The spectacular bankruptcy of the American regional bank Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) at the end of last week does not present a risk for the French banking system, reassured the Minister of Economy and Finance, Bruno Le Maire, this Monday morning.
"
We are monitoring the situation in the United States very closely but there is no specific alert on the French banking system, which is solid
," he said on France Info.
The solidity of the French banking system is based in particular on a “
high liquidity ratio
”, monitored “
every month with the governor of the Banque de France
”, specified Bruno Le Maire.
In other words, French banks do not suffer from indebtedness likely to cause their loss.
"
At this stage, we are not aware of any direct exposure of French banks
" to any activity of SVB, added Gabriel Attal, Minister of Public Accounts, on France Inter.
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Largest bank failure since 2008
The former government spokesperson recalled that SVB was an "
American regional bank
" and that as such, its bankruptcy is "
not a systemic event
" for the banks.
"
The bankruptcy of SVB is explained by the niche economic model of this bank, specializing in the technological sector, which is not comparable to the economic model of the major French and European banks
", explained Gabriel Attal.
The fall of SVB is the largest bank failure since the
subprime
crisis in 2008. The British subsidiary of the Californian bank was saved from bankruptcy by the Hong Kong giant HSBC, which bought it for 1 symbolic pound this weekend.
The US authorities, they guarantee the withdrawal of all deposits of SVB, a measure that is likely to reassure after the panic caused by the collapse.
Another American specialized bank, Signature Bank, was closed by the regulator in the wake of the bankruptcy of SVB.
The American central bank will lend funds if necessary to banking establishments which would face an influx of customers wishing to withdraw their deposits for fear of never recovering them.