Fed Review Finds Supervisors Knew About SVB Vulnerabilities in 2022

A review of Silicon Valley Bank's failure has found that supervisors knew about its vulnerabilities as early as March 2022, but failed to act promptly.

The Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman announced the findings from an independent Starling Advisory Group review. The review identified several issues with SVB's balance sheet, including unrealized securities losses exceeding its capital and a highly concentrated deposit base.

Bowman noted that supervisors knew or should have known about these vulnerabilities by March 2022 but did not take swift action.