Banking Crisis 2023

While trade groups representing Oklahoma banks argue the failure of Oklahoma-based First National Bank of Lindsay is an isolated incident, some in the industry say it may be a sign of more collapses to come.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is referring the issue to the Department of Justice. The failure of the $107.8 million bank will also cost the Deposit Insurance Fund an estimated $43 million.

Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu's suggestion that regulators designate certain midsize regional banks as domestic systemically important banks could boost oversight but may also complicate the regulatory landscape, observers say.

In his reset of the Basel III endgame proposal outlined Tuesday, Federal Reserve Vice Chair of Supervision Michael Barr deemphasized the connection between last year's bank failures and raising capital. That makes a world of sense.

Industry Bancshares got into a deep hole after rising interest rates tanked the value of its sizable bond portfolio. Now the Texas community bank is expecting a $195 million capital infusion and taking steps to start relying more on revenue from loans.

A report from the Office of Inspector General disclosed that the Federal Housing Finance Agency issued enforcement actions against two Home Loan banks.

The Sacramento-area institution moved quickly and decisively to fill the gap created by the loss of First Republic and Silicon Valley Bank. A first-quarter rise in Bay Area deposits is a sign of bigger gains to come, San Francisco Bay Area President DJ Kurtze says.

The agency has a history of tangling with parent companies over how to split the burden after banking units collapse.

During the March 2023 banking crisis, company executives had to calm panicked customers, shore up liquidity and reassure investors after two other regionals failed. Key decisions during a critical seven-day window likely averted disaster.

Ken Vecchione, leader of Western Alliance since 2018, grew up listening to his parents talk business strategy around the dinner table. He called on those lessons and his more than 30 years of experience to steer the regional bank through last year's turmoil.

Ten months after the Raleigh, North Carolina, company acquired a large chunk of Silicon Valley Bank, it says it is seeing good progress in keeping and winning back the latter's former customers. But the ongoing slowdown in private equity and venture capital activity will challenge the unit's growth.

The Bank Term Funding Program, established during last year's liquidity crunch, will stop issuing new loans on March 11. Until then, banks can still borrow from the facility, though at less favorable terms.

After California was hit hard by the banking crisis of 2023, tens of thousands of commercial and consumer customers turned to East West, helping the company achieve record full-year revenue, its CEO says.

The Seattle bank's stock price fell in 2023 amid concerns over rising interest rates and its concentration of multifamily loans. The buyer is FirstSun Capital Bancorp, which raised $175 million as part of the deal.

The Federal Reserve's inexplicable failure to enforce rules requiring Silicon Valley Bank Financial Group to serve as a "source of strength" for its subsidiary saddled the FDIC with billions in extra losses.

Surging interest rates, recession threats and weaker stock valuations bogged down merger-and-acquisition activity last year. The 98 announced deals fell short of even 2020, when the pandemic briefly brought the economy to a standstill.

Heading into the year, U.S. banks were facing pressure to pay higher rates to their depositors. But they could not have anticipated just how important deposits would soon become.

Overall merger-and-acquisition activity proved modest across the banking sector, but several prominent deals were reached. Read on for details of the year's biggest transactions.