Silicon Valley Bank - (Why) Did Regulation And Risk Management Fail To Uncover Substantial Risks?

This paper examines the major causes of Silicon Valley Bank’s (SVB) collapse in March 2023 from a regulatory and risk management perspective. Using SVB Financial Group’s 10-K filings, we show that the economic value of equity pointed to excessive interest rate risks in SVB’s balance sheet over one year before the actual collapse. Our analysis reveals major weaknesses in SVB’s risk management practice but also underlines weaknesses in the US regulatory regime reaching from reporting exemptions for small banks in the domain of liquidity and interest rate risks, non-sufficiently sensitive monitoring ratios, and misalignments between accounting and risk management principles hindering effective oversight. The paper concludes with several recommendations to provide food for thought for policymakers, regulators, and risk managers