Janet Yellen Says No To Silicon Valley Bank Bailout: 'We're Not Going To Do That Again'

The collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank, owned by SVB Financial Group SIVB is clearly a concern, but a bailout is out of the question, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen suggested in an interview. The comments come against the backdrop of Wall Street analysts doubling up on their call for Fed and Treasury intervention.

What Happened: While acknowledging the dire prospect faced by depositors, many of which are small businesses, she said, “I’ve been working all weekend with our banking regulators to design appropriate policies to address this situation.” Yellen's comments came in an interview with CBS "Face The Nation" host Margaret Brennan that was aired on Sunday.

The top Treasury official refused to provide further details for now but expressed confidence in the resilience of the U.S. banking system. “But what I do want to do is emphasize that the American banking system is really safe and well-capitalized, it's resilient,” she said.

Yellen also underlined the “unique controls” that were put in place in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, including better capital and liquidity supervision. The banking system was tested during the early days of the pandemic, and it proved its resilience, he added.

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Goal Is To Prevent Contagion: The government wants to make sure that the troubles at one bank do not create contagion to others that are sound, Yellen said.

“The goal always of supervision and regulation is to make sure that contagion can't- can't occur,” she added.

Bailout Not An Option: Yellen ruled out any government intervention at this point.

“Well, let me be clear that during the financial crisis, there were investors and owners of systemic large banks that were bailed out, and we're certainly not looking,” she said. “And the reforms that have been put in place means that we're not going to do that again.”

All the same, the Treasury Secretary expressed concerns about the fate of depositors.

When asked whether a deal can be expected to reassure the markets ahead of Asia opening for trading this week, she said, “We certainly are working to address the situation in a timely way.”

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Photo: International Monetary Fund on flickr