The cost of the Silicon Valley Bank failure to the Deposit Insurance Fund dwarfs the number one IndyMac failure, the Signature Bank failure cost will rank fourth highest ever

 SVB will cost the DIF $20 billion. Signature will cost $2.5 billion.

These are enormous sums.

Combined they represent a 17.55% hit to the $128.2 billion balance of the Deposit Insurance Fund as of 12/31/22.

Reported here and here.

SVB will rank numero uno in this list ahead of IndyMac's $12 billion.

Signature Bank will probably rank fourth ahead of Colonial Bank's $2.4 billion. The final costs are yet to be determined.

Until these two recent failures there were just six institutions in the billion dollar or higher club for DIF bailouts.

FDIC member institutions fund the DIF through FDIC-imposed assessments.

It is received opinion that these bailouts will cost the taxpayers nothing. 

It is a fact that the tax-paying customers of these banks end up paying, through high interest rates on loans and effectively zero return paid by the banks on deposits. 

Moody's missed not only Signature Bank's problems, but Silicon Valley Bank's as well

On Wednesday March 8, Moody’s still had an A3 rating on SVB Financial, owner of the now defunct Silicon Valley Bank, as it was already collapsing for all to see. Four notches into investment grade – a very respectable rating!

More.

The wizards of smart at Silicon Valley Bank loaded up on mortgage backed securities in the last few years, and when they needed to raise cash recently they had to sell some at a big loss

$1.8 billion.

That sparked the run.

The problems have been known for months by people like Chris Whalen.

This guy below actually tweeted out some particulars in January. This was no surprise.

Except to the federal regulators, who were completely asleep at the switch.

This is what happens when your bond portfolio is full of low-yielding securities. No one wants them when you have to sell them in the new higher interest rate environment. It's not a problem if you will "hold to maturity".

SVB wasn't very smart loading up on this stuff. Apparently they did not even hedge this otherwise foolish over-large position.

Hell, it's probably all California MBS, too. Think the outrageously overpriced homes, refinanced at rock bottom rates, of the very elite who have all their personal and business banking at SVB which is now blowing up. And all the second tier businesses and their employees dependent on them.

It's an inferno devouring their wealth from every side.

And they are screaming like stuck pigs for a bailout.