UK arm of Silicon Valley Bank paid out more than £15million in bonuses days after bailout
UK branch of Silicon Valley Bank paid more than £15 million in bonuses days after it was saved from collapse by a bailout organized by the Bank of England
The UK arm of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) has paid out more than £15 million in employee bonuses just days after it was saved from collapse by a bailout organized by the Bank of England.
Days after insolvency relief payments to staff, including senior executives, were signed by HSBC this week, according to Sky News.
The bonus pool was described as ‘modest’ and sources claimed it totaled between £15m and £20m.
Another said the payments were a sign of HSBC’s confidence in the talent base and that the buyer was keen to honor previously agreed payments to retain key personnel.
It has not been confirmed how much has been awarded to the British bank’s CEO Erin Platts or her senior colleagues.
The UK arm of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) paid out more than £15 million in employee bonuses just days after being bailed out
It has not been confirmed how much was awarded to the UK bank’s CEO Erin Platts, who moved to the UK arm in 2007
SVB UK is led by Erin Platts, an American who first joined the US parent company in 2004 before moving to the UK in 2007 and becoming head of the UK and Europe in 2019.
SVB UK was brought to the brink of bankruptcy last weekend due to the dire circumstances of its US parent company, according to Sky News.
Platts tried to reassure customers earlier this month, hours before the Bank of England intervened, saying the company was a standalone entity with its own board and balance sheet.
It is believed that if the bank had not been taken over in a solvent manner, the bonuses would not have been awarded to their employees.
HSBC bought SVB’s UK arm and secured the deposits of more than 3,000 customers worth £6.7bn for just £1 this month.
The sudden collapse of SVB’s US parent company sent shockwaves to global markets and became the largest bank failure since the 2008 financial crisis.
Bonuses were also paid to US staff just hours before the bank collapsed, according to reports last week.
US parent SVB Financial Group said Friday it had filed for a court-supervised reorganization as part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings to seek buyers for its assets, days after its former unit Silicon Valley Bank was acquired by US regulators
Founded in 1982, SVB was the largest bank in Silicon Valley and specialized in loans to technology start-ups.
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