First Republic Bank has reached an agreement with some of the largest U.S. banks to stabilize its balance sheet in the aftermath of the Silicon Valley Bank collapse, federal regulators said Thursday.
The San Francisco-based bank will receive $30 billion in deposits from 11 banks, according to a joint statement from the Federal Reserve, Treasury Department and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
“This show of support by a group of large banks is most welcome, and demonstrates the resilience of the banking system,” they said in a statement.
Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo are each depositing $5 billion, the banks announced in a statement. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are depositing $2.5 billion each.
“The actions of America’s largest banks reflect their confidence in the country’s banking system,” the group of 11 banks said. “Together, we are deploying our financial strength and liquidity into the larger system, where it is needed the most.”
The financial institutions said that regional banks such as First Republic are “are critical to the health and functioning of our financial system.” They added that the U.S. banking system remains safe and well-capitalized.
“Recent events did nothing to change this,” the banks said.
The bank-to-bank bailout — which had the blessing of the U.S. government — came as First Republic Bank faced the threat of an exodus from investors and depositors.
First Republic’s stock fell 66 percent over the last week amid concerns that the bank wouldn’t have enough cash to handle an influx of withdrawals.
First Republic, like Silicon Valley Bank, has used a large chunk of its deposits on long-term investments that lost value over the past year due to interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve.
Around 68 percent of the bank’s deposits are uninsured, according to S&P Global, higher than many of its competitors but lower than Silicon Valley Bank’s 94 percent.
Credit rating agency Moody’s weighed downgrading First Republic this week, noting that the high rate of uninsured deposits could prompt depositors to swiftly move their money elsewhere.
“If it were to face higher-than-anticipated deposit outflows and liquidity backstops proved insufficient, the bank could need to sell assets, thus crystallizing unrealized losses on its [securities],” Moody’s analysts wrote.
Bloomberg News first reported the news of the $30 billion bailout on Thursday.
The effort to rescue another bank from going under came as the U.S. banking system faced an apparent crisis of confidence.
Federal regulators on Sunday guaranteed all deposits at the failed Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in an effort to restore public trust and prevent more bank runs.
“This week’s actions demonstrate our resolute commitment to ensure that our financial system remains strong and the depositors’ savings remain safe,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told the Senate Finance Committee Thursday.
