Fear of crash wipes £60bn off UK shares

SILICON VALLEY BANK COLLAPSE

- Robert Kellaway

MORE than £60 billion was wiped off the stock market value of the UK's leading companies yesterday amid fears of a global banking crash.

The fall came despite the Prime Minister, Chancellor, and Bank of England moving swiftly to broker a deal to save the UK arm of the US bank at the centre of the scare.

The agreement saw the collapsed Silicon Valley Bank UK bought for £1 by Europe's biggest HSBC - to guarantee its deposits with "no taxpayer support".

The Bank of England said all SVB UK deposits are "safe and secure" following the sale.

More than 200 small British tech firms faced the loss of cash deposits, with an estimated £2.5 billion of their capital held by SVB UK before the deal was announced.

It is understood that PM Rishi Sunak was making phone calls about the failure during his flight to San Diego for a summit.