- Key Insight: First Citizens Bancshares, which acquired the wreckage of Silicon Valley Bank after it collapsed, is planning to stop using the failed bank's branding by the end of the year.
- What's at Stake: Though much of the public now associates its name with failure, SVB was originally known for its expertise in lending to tech startups.
- Expert Quote: "We want to be perfectly clear that while names are changing, the client experience is not," said Frank Holding Jr., CEO of First Citizens.
UPDATE: This article has been updated with new information from First Citizens' first-quarter earnings and quotes from its top executives.
Most people know that Silicon Valley Bank collapsed in 2023, touching off a regional banking crisis. Fewer people know that until this week, a website bearing SVB's name was still proclaiming, "We are open for business."
That's because for three years, SVB has operated as a division of First Citizens Bancshares, a Raleigh, North Carolina-based lender that
On Thursday, the $236 billion-asset First Citizens announced that it is retiring the name "Silicon Valley Bank." Starting in the fourth quarter of 2026, each department bearing the SVB name — including divisions serving the tech, health care, wine and other industries — will be rebranded to "First Citizens."
"We want to be perfectly clear that while names are changing, the client experience is not," Frank Holding Jr., CEO of First Citizens, said during the company's first-quarter earnings call on Thursday. "Our relationship teams remain the cornerstone of our service, providing the same deep specializations that our clients rely on."
The rebranding marks a sharp turnaround in strategy. For the last three years, First Citizens used the SVB brand to heavily emphasize its continuity of service. In May 2023, just two months after the California bank collapsed, a livestreamed
"We are still here. We are still the same team," Bo Ren, who at the time was director of startup banking at SVB, said in the video. "We have the same products. We have the same mission, the same values."
As recently as last fall, First Citizens was still underscoring that continuity.
"First Citizens' Silicon Valley Bank division has had a presence in Northern California for more than 40 years," the bank said in a November 2025
Why, then, is First Citizens dropping the SVB banner now? According to Peter Bristow, president of First Citizens' commercial bank, it's a matter of making the brand as united as the company.
"This is about aligning our brand strategy with our business strategy," Bristow told American Banker in an email. "We are poised for growth, and looking ahead, a united brand strategy and product platform across our commercial bank will help us deliver more access to a broader solution set in time."
First Citizens' initial decision to keep the SVB name had few recent analogues. After First Republic Bank
But in SVB's case, multiple groups have been literally fighting over the tarnished brand name. SVB Financial Trust, the entity responsible for liquidating the now-bankrupt parent company SVB Financial Group, filed a lawsuit against First Citizens last year, accusing the company of using SVB's trademarks without permission.
"First Citizens Bank's false designation of the origin of its products is likely to have caused and to continue causing confusion in the marketplace, and it misrepresents the characteristics of First Citizens Bank's products and services," lawyers for SVB Financial Trust wrote in their complaint.
The lawsuit is still pending. First Citizens told American Banker its branding decision had nothing to do with the litigation, which it would not comment on.
Before it collapsed, Silicon Valley Bank specialized in commercial lending to tech startups and the private equity firms that backed them. Back in 2023, First Citizens had made less of a name for itself in the tech industry, and the SVB brand may have been useful as the bank worked to hold onto clients.
On Thursday, First Citizens said the "innovation economy" will continue to receive the same quality of service, even as its name changes from SVB to First Citizens.
"First Citizens has seen the value in preserving what has always made us special and a leader in serving the innovation economy," Marc Cadieux, president of Silicon Valley Bank under First Citizens, said in a statement. "This upcoming milestone reflects First Citizens' ongoing commitment to our audiences and a desire to build upon that success."
In the past, SVB bankers have touted their relative independence from the rest of First Citizens. When asked whether this independence would continue, First Citizens said the unit will keep operating as "Silicon Valley Bank, a division of First Citizens Bank," until the brand change in the fourth quarter. The company also said that retaining the division's specialized solutions and services, and investing in new capabilities, remain priorities.
A complicated quarter
In the first quarter of 2026, First Citizens' earnings outpaced Wall Street's expectations, even as some softer numbers beneath the surface raised concerns with analysts.
Earnings per share reached $42.63, up from $34.47 in the same period last year, and beating analysts' consensus estimate of $39.46, according to S&P Capital IQ.
Net income for the quarter was $534 million, marking a 10.6% increase from the same period last year. Net revenue was $2.31 billion, up 0.7% from the prior year.
Net interest income, however, declined. In the first quarter, NII was $1.62 million, down 2.5% year over year. Net interest margin fell to 3.09%, down from 3.26% in the first quarter of 2025.
During Thursday's earnings call, First Citizens Chief Financial Officer Craig Nix attributed the margin compression to lower interest rates from the Federal Reserve. The Fed's rate-setting committee cut rates three times last year.
"This decline was primarily driven by lower earning asset yield following the Fed's rate cut in late 2025, alongside a shorter day count this quarter," Nix said. "However, these headwinds were moderated through strong organic loan growth, lower funding costs and a reduction in average borrowings."
First Citizens' loans and leases reached $148.69 billion in the first quarter, up 5.2% from the year-ago period.
And at the SVB unit, loan growth was particularly strong. Period-end loans and leases for SVB Commercial reached $45.37 billion, marking a 20% jump from last year's first quarter.
"Within SVB Commercial, we saw significant momentum," Nix said. "Growth here underscores the strength of our franchise within the innovation economy."
Brian Foran, an analyst at Truist Securities, noted the unit's performance as well.
"Encouragingly, the SVB business showed nice growth," Foran wrote in a research note on Thursday. "That said, net interest income and margin both missed, leading to some investor angst."
