First Republic Bank’s Shares Downgraded to Junk Status by S&P Global; Stock Slides More Than 25% Lower

After UBS acquired Credit Suisse and close to a dozen financial institutions injected $30 billion into First Republic Bank four days ago, S&P Global downgraded First Republic’s shares to junk status on Sunday. Investors are concerned that the cash infusion from 11 major financial institutions may not address the bank’s liquidity issues. First Republic’s shares … Read more

Several Major Central Banks Take Coordinated Action to Boost Liquidity Amidst Banking Crisis

On Sunday evening, March 19, 2023, at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time, the U.S. Federal Reserve, along with several central banks including the Bank of England, Bank of Canada, Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank, and the Swiss National Bank, announced a coordinated action to enhance the provision of liquidity via the standing U.S. dollar … Read more

Elon Musk Criticizes Federal Reserve’s Data Latency and Calls for Immediate Rate Drop Amidst Banking Chaos

Amidst the chaos in the U.S. banking sector, Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and owner of Twitter, has been critical of the country’s central bank. Musk insists that the U.S. Federal Reserve is operating with “way too much latency in their data,” and he insists that the central bank needs to drop the federal … Read more

SVB Financial Group Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection to ‘Preserve’ Firm’s Value

On March 17, 2023, SVB Financial Group, the parent company of Silicon Valley Bank, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the Southern District of New York. The company stated that it is no longer associated with Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) after the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) placed it into receivership last week. 3 … Read more

US Bank Outflows and Concerns Mount: 11 Banks Bail Out First Republic Bank From Collapse

After the fall of Silvergate Bank, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), and Signature Bank (SNBY), First Republic Bank, a commercial bank and wealth management services provider, is the latest financial institution to receive a bailout. Close to a dozen lenders announced they will deposit $30 billion into the beleaguered bank’s coffers to shore up liquidity. U.S. … Read more

Moody’s Downgrades US Banking Sector to Negative After Collapse of Three Major Banks

After the failure of three major U.S. banks last week, with two of them being the second and third largest banking failures in the country, Moody’s Investors Service has downgraded the rating of the U.S. banking system from “stable” to “negative.” As one of the “Big Three” credit rating firms, Moody’s cited a “rapid deterioration … Read more

Circle Issues Update Amid Stablecoin Volatility; Firm Is Prepared to ‘Stand Behind USDC and Cover Any Shortfall’

On Saturday, March 11, 2023, Circle Financial updated the public about its stablecoin, USDC, and noted that the stablecoin’s liquidity operations will resume normally on Monday morning in the United States. Circle said that the company’s teams would be ready on Monday to “handle significant volume” and that the firm will “stand behind USDC and … Read more

Makerdao Issues Emergency Proposal to Address $3.1B in USDC Collateral After Stablecoin Depegging Incident

On March 11, 2023, the decentralized finance project Makerdao issued an emergency proposal following the USDC depegging incident that saw the stablecoin dip down to $0.877 per unit. At the time of writing, Makerdao commands $3.1 billion in USDC collateral that backs a portion of the project’s stablecoin, DAI. Makerdao Proposes Changes to Limit Exposure … Read more