Silicon Valley Bank collapse is largest failure since financial crisis.
Saturday, March 11, 2023
I hope your day is off to a decent start. We're on for the weekend shift and bring you the latest developments in global banking, the Ukraine war, the Middle East and plenty more.
A notice hangs on the door of an SVB location in San Francisco, March 10, 2023. REUTERS/Krystal Hu
Withdrawals: California banking regulators closed SVB Financial Group, the largest bank failure since the financial crisis, sending shockwaves through global markets and hitting banking stocks and Silicon Valley startups.
'Sustainable' and other four-letter words: CEO Brian Moynihan had to remind the world that Bank of America is a capitalist organization as financial institutions face scorn from Republicans for taking ESG seriously. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned that climate change could trigger asset-value losses In other banking news, JPMorgan is working hard to distance itself from Jes Staley and his ties to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Misplaced confidence: Just about everything that could go wrong did in the attempt to sail an estimated 180 migrants from Turkey to Italy. Reuters highlights the rescue failures and ruthless smugglers that led to the deadly shipwreck off the Italian coast.
More to come: Even as Italy leans on smugglers, more than 1,000 people packed onto boats in dangerous waters were rescued. And the BBC yanked soccer presenter Gary Lineker off the air after he criticized Britain's migration policy on Twitter.
Bakhmut: Kyiv seemed to be planning a westward withdrawal earlier this month. Now it has decided to fight on in the ruined city because the battle, they say, is pinning down Russia's best units and degrading them ahead of a planned spring offensive by Moscow.
Spheres of influence: I wrote a few weeks ago about Moldova's importance in the region. There is plenty more coming on that front. Fellow former Soviet republic Georgia had an eventful week of protests over a bill supported by a party said to have Russia links.
Reconciliation: The announcement comes after talks brokered by China and signals the end of seven years of hostility which threatened stability and security in the Middle East.
And in Israel: President Isaac Herzog urged Benjamin Netanyahu's government to abandon attempts to push through plans to overhaul the judiciary, saying the move would undermine democracy. In the West Bank, Palestinians say Israeli settler attacks have left them on edge.
Sowing seeds of support: Ron DeSantis made his first trip to Iowa as he considers a presidential bid, days before Donald Trump is slated to campaign there. A good showing in Iowa's Republican nominating contest early in 2024 would determine if DeSantis could take on the former president.
Submarines: President Biden and his team will prep over a meeting in San Diego with the leaders of Australia and Britain on how to get nuclear-powered submarines into Canberra's hands to counter China in the Indo-Pacific region.
Before I forget...
Turks ask how a boom town came crashing down in the catastrophic earthquake. Asylum seekers in the U.S. are taking their chances in Québec instead. The scars of Peruvian protest deaths cut deep in the Andes. A gunman killed seven people at a Jehovah's Witnesses Kingdom Hall in northern Hamburg. The Federal Reserve remains undecided on whether to accelerate rate hikes to fight inflation.
A Mexican drug cartel apologized for killing two Americans in Tamaulipas over what appears to have been a mistake, a COVID con artist admitted to stealing $1 million in pandemic loan fraud, Spanish authorities caught a pair of wine thieves with expensive tastes, and Ohio's former House speaker was convicted over a $60 million bribery plot.
Thanks to Kate Turton who stood in last weekend while my planned R&R turned into sick leave for a nasty cold. And thanks to you for spending time with us. I'll be on homepage duty all weekend, so come and have a look at Reuters.com, preferably often.
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