Frank Bergman
Bankers in Israel were able to successfully transfer $1 billion in funds from Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) right before it collapsed on Friday, according to reports.
The Times of Israel is reporting that the country’s two largest banks, Bank Leumi and Bank Hapoalim, were able to move the money before it was seized by the feds.
The funds were transferred to bank accounts in Israel.
As Slay News reported, SVB, the 16th largest bank in the United States at the time of its failure late last week, collapsed after a run on deposits.
The bank was placed into the receivership of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
The bank’s collapse represents the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history.
The FDIC is being forced to guarantee 100 percent of both insured and uninsured customer deposits.
While the collapse of SVB took many by surprise, financial authorities in Israel were somehow ready for the implosion.
“Israel’s two largest banks, Bank Leumi and Bank Hapoalim, set up a situation room that has been operating around the clock to help firms transfer their money from SVB — before it was seized — to accounts in Israel,” the Times of Israel reports.
“Over the past few days, teams at LeumiTech, the high-tech banking arm of Bank Leumi, have been able to help their Israeli clients transfer about $1 billion to Israel, the bank said.”
The move came while many companies in the U.S. were not able to withdraw funds before the bank’s collapse.
Ha’aretz reports that “a good many Israeli companies had been able to get their money out in time, but that it was clearly not the case for everyone.”
“Companies whose deposits are now locked will seek to conceal this, concerned that any rumors might drive away customers, suppliers, and employees.”
With Israel already receiving $10 million a day via U.S. taxpayers, it remains unclear if the FDIC will be returning any money to Israeli companies that was previously held with SVB.
“While the fund going to the depositors is paid into by U.S. banks, it is ultimately backstopped by the Treasury Department — and therefore U.S. taxpayers,” the Washington Post reported.
As Slay News reported, Signature Bank in New York was also shut down by regulators on Sunday.
Some observers have been noting that it was the same bank to close down President Donald Trump’s accounts following the incident at the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
It has now also emerged that Democrat former Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) was a member of the board at the collapsed Signature bank.
Source: https://slaynews.com/news/israeli-bankers-transferred-1-billion-out-silicon-valley-bank-right-before-collapse/