HSBC buys Silicon Valley Bank UK for £1

The UK government said customer deposits would be protected “without taxpayer support”.

“Customers of SVB UK will be able to access their deposits and banking services as normal from today,” it said in a statement.

Under the terms of the agreement, HSBC’s UK subsidiary will finance the acquisition of Silicon Valley Bank UK Limited, which is expected to be completed immediately. The agreement excludes all assets and liabilities of the parent company SVB.

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The UK deal comes after the Biden administration moved to protect SVB customers from losses, announcing on Sunday night that depositors would have access to all their money on Monday morning, authorizing an extraordinary intervention aimed at averting a financial crisis the system.

Authorities said they are also extending protections to depositors of Signature Bank in New York, which state regulators shuttered on Sunday as turmoil in the financial sector spread.

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The British government, the Bank of England and British financial regulators had been looking for several days for a buyer for SVB’s British subsidiary to protect the country’s technology sector. British start-ups are particularly dependent on the bank for funding, but found themselves in uncertain waters after US regulators shut down SVB on Friday, in what amounted to the second biggest bank collapse in US history.

Jeremy Hunt, UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, so The government “worked quickly to deliver” on a promise to “look after” the sector and the bank’s customers.

The Bank of England said it approved the sale “to stabilize SVBUK”, ensure “the continuity of banking services”, minimize “disruption to the UK technology sector” and strengthen “confidence in the financial system”.

Jeff Stein, David J. Lynch, Tony Romm, Tyler Pager and Julian Mark contributed to this report.