Finance

Small and midsize banks flooded the Federal Home Loan Bank System with demands for liquidity to avert potential bank runs and stave off taking unrealized losses on investment portfolios just as the Federal Reserve opened a liquidity facility for just that reason.

The Bank Term Funding Program, rolled out by the central bank on Sunday night, offers par value for underwater securities that banks pledge to obtain short-term loans. Industry insiders expressed optimism on Monday that it will buy time for institutions that have been hit by rising interest rates.

Panic withdrawals brought down a bank within two days, and many point to some venture capitalists, who urged companies to pull money out of the bank.

The FDIC named Greg Carmichael, who retired last year as CEO of Fifth Third Bancorp, to run a bridge bank that will hold Signature's deposits and most of its assets.

The Treasury Department issued a "systemic risk exception" allowing it to cover uninsured deposits at SVB and Signature Bank, which New York State closed on Sunday.

The Philadelphia bank's new CEO says a planned infusion would let it update its branch footprint, technology and other resources as part of a turnaround.

SVB Financial Group shares extended their plunge before being halted in premarket trading for pending news as prominent venture capitalists recommended companies withdraw their money from the lender.

Shares in Silicon Valley Bank's parent company plunged 60% after executives announced they would sell a large bond portfolio at a big loss. The market "seems to be pricing in greater liquidity needs" than the bank currently anticipates, one analyst said.

The recent drought in deals means the company "may have to repace in certain areas" its investment banking unit has beefed up in for years, including energy, biotechnology and health care, Chief Financial Officer Mark Mason says.

The Dallas-based bank offered a more downbeat forecast than it did back in January, as rising rates have continued to put pressure on deposits.