Bankruptcy of the SVB: is France safe from a “bank run”?

This is the dreaded disaster scenario that shook the financial world. Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), the 16th largest American bank and favored by nearly half of tech companies, was the victim of a “Bank run” on March 9 and 10. a massive bank run. In 24 hours, some 42 billion dollars of withdrawal orders – a record – were issued by its alarmed customers, the bank having declared that it was seeking to bail out after the deterioration of its bond portfolio.

Can such an episode occur in France? It is unlikely because, as repeated by the President of the French Banking Federation, Philippe Brassac, on Saturday March 18 on France Inter, “virtually all French banks are subject to specific prudential rules”. The Basel III agreement provides for a high level of capital and compliance with liquidity ratios. French establishments also regularly undergo “stress tests”, resistance tests organized by central banks.

Limited withdrawals for up to two days

The scenario of a panic movement is all the more hypothetical since, when a systemically important bank is in difficulty, the supervisors do not hesitate to come to the rescue. As was the case with the Credit Suisse, tossed about on the markets, who could borrow 50 billion Swiss francs (as much in euros) from the Swiss National Bankbefore being acquired by UBS.