Hopes: Chancellor Jeremy Hunt (pictured) hailed the relaunch of SVB UK as a ‘really big step forward for the UK’
Jeremy Hunt hailed the relaunch of collapsed tech sector lender SVB UK under a new name as a ‘really big step forward for the UK’.
The British arm of Silicon Valley Bank was sold to HSBC for £1 in an emergency rescue deal hatched over a frantic weekend in March, and overseen by the Treasury and the Bank of England.
SVB UK’s collapse, which followed the demise of its US parent Silicon Valley Bank, had threatened to deliver a hammer blow to thousands of British start-ups.
The Chancellor, speaking at the bank’s relaunch at London Tech Week, said: ‘It was actually a very hairy weekend – because we had this precious Ming vase that was the ecosystem that SVB has been right at the centre of.
Perhaps a quarter or maybe even a third of the most promising new companies were at risk. A lot was at stake.’
Hunt quipped to HSBC’s UK boss Ian Stuart over the £1 sale: ‘I think you did very well out of it by the way.’
SVB UK will form the basis of HSBC Innovation Banking, a global division that is also setting up outposts in the US, Israel and Hong Kong. Erin Platts, who led SVB UK, will lead the UK arm of HSBC Innovation.
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