SVB Adds Bankers as Anniversary of Its Failure Nears

While other lenders are cutting staff, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) is reportedly hiring.

The financial institution, whose failure in March of 2023 set off a larger banking crisis, has added about 200 bankers since then and has openings for dozens more, President Marc Cadieux told Bloomberg News Thursday (Feb. 15).

“So much has been said about folks who have departed and went here or there,” Cadieux said. “We still have all of the talent we need, and so that from the get-go enabled us to get back out there. There was, in some instances, ‘Meet your new relationship manager’ or things like that, but that was quickly put behind us.”

The report notes that SVB’s hiring efforts are part of a bid to win back customers and fend off rivals hoping to make inroads with the startup and venture capital sectors.

Silicon Valley Bank has around 1,500 bankers dedicated to the so-called innovation economy, with about 80% staying on through its collapse and purchase by First Citizens last year, the report said.

The bank’s hiring boom is happening as other companies in the finance sector are letting workers go. Financial companies slashed announced 23,238 layoffs during January, the most layoffs in the industry in a single month since 2018.

And world’s biggest banks reportedly slashed more than 60,000 jobs in 2023, with lenders like Wells Fargo and Bank of America letting go of workers amid a downturn in dealmaking and a sustained period of high interest rates.

Meanwhile, the collapse of SVB continues to play out in the legal system, with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently suing the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) over a tax debt owed by the bank.

The FDIC seized the bank and its assets in March following its failure. The IRS wants a judge to decide how much the FDIC must pay to cover the $1.45 billion tax debt owed by SVB.

As noted here, the FDIC has rejected the entire tax claim, and is acting as a receiver for Silicon Valley Bank and using the bank’s assets to pay back its creditors.

The FDIC has also been sued by SVB’s former parent company, SVB Financial, over the $1.93 billion in cash the regulator seized when it took over the bank.