Global equities remain shaken following the closure of California based, tech-focussed Silicon Valley Bank SVB. The US Dow Jones Bank Index has plummeted by a fifth since the beginning of March, when America’s sixteenth largest bank went under, provoking memories of the 2008 global financial crisis GFC.
Nerves were agitated further as the Swiss National Bank stepped in to facilitate a merger between UBS and Credit Suisse, sparking concerns that a systemic crisis could spread overseas. While the impact confronting US and European banks was discrete, the underlying culprit was the same for both.
A cascade of deposit withdrawals sparked an industry-wide credit crunch and...