The failure of an American bank no one much has heard of might not sound like a big deal. Let’s hope it isn’t the thin end of any Northern Rock (almost kids ask your parents) wedge. What is a big deal is the abject failure of regulation, on both sides of the pond, which it represents. The Silicon Valley Bank was both approved and supposedly regulated here as well as in the US. Once again it seems that, while we small fry have to stress over and tick every box imaginable to prove we’re both solvent and doing the right things, the basics are ignored for the bigger boys. Banks take in deposits and pay interest, then lend and collect interest. Smaller banks usually have to pay over the odds to attract deposits. If interest rates rise, the equations change. However, regulatory ‘stress testing’, introduced after the Big Crash is supposed to make sure what’s just happened can’t happen. It has. Lesson of history. Don’t chase the best rate from someone you’ve never heard of.
Budget Rumours and Possibilities
The Budget Rumour Machine is not the shambles it was last year. Before Rachel’s Swansong all sorts of stuff was leaked to see what sort of puddle it would create.
