The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) denied that any buyer of Signature Bank would be required to renounce its crypto business. The agency comment is in response to a Reuters report on Wednesday that stated that “any buyer of Signature must agree to give up all the crypto business at the bank,” citing two anonymous sources.
An FDIC spokesperson said in an email that “the receivership does not end until all the bank’s assets are sold and all the claims against the bank are addressed, and the acquirer decides the conditions of their bid.”
The purchaser will inform the FDIC of “what assets and liabilities from the failed bank it is willing to take,” according to the spokesperson, using the FDIC’s resolution guidelines.
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Following this, Reuters updated its report saying a spokesperson told the media outfit after publication that the agency “would not require divestment of crypto activities as part of any sale, and pointed to prior comments from FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg that the agency is not looking to prohibit any particular activity by banks.”
The New York Department of Financial Services seized Signature over the weekend and passed it over to the FDIC. While Signature board member Barney Frank claimed it was a political move motivated by anti-crypto sentiment, a NYDFS spokesperson said in a statement that the regulator had lost confidence in the bank’s leadership following a bank run last Friday and a lack of “reliable” information over the weekend.
According to Reuters, the FDIC is now planning to auction Signature and Silicon Valley Bank – another bank seized by a state regulator last week – before the end of this week.
After a series of bank collapses, deposit insurance is now in focus as the regulators figure out a way to make the banks’ clients whole–even those uninsured–without having to spend American taxpayer money.
Information for this briefing was found via Coindesk, Reuters, and the sources mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to this organization. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.
