India’s SVC Bank states that its business is safe as some confuse it with the collapsed SVB
The 116-year-old Indian bank SVC had to issue an official clarification on the state of its business after confused customers mistook it for the recently closed US SVB – Silicon Valley Bank. The similarity in the abbreviations of their names may have led to confusion. Scrolling the minds of its users, SVC Bank said it was ‘totally unrelated’ to the now-defunct SVB. The California-based SVB has been catering to IT companies based in the Silicon Valley tech hub, including crypto companies.
Founded in 1906, SVC Co-operative Bank was previously known as Shamrao Vithal Co-operative Bank. In the 2021-2022 financial year, the Mumbai-based bank said its total business had a net worth of Rs. 31,500 crores, having forged over Rs. 146 crore in earnings.
The bank warned people not to spread rumors that its business was in any way connected to the collapsed Silicon Valley bank.
“SVC Bank is completely unaffiliated with Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) which was based in California. We ask our members, customers and other stakeholders not to pay heed to unsubstantiated rumors and mischief-mongering by unscrupulous elements that allude to similarities in brand names. The bank maintains SVC reserves the right to take the necessary legal measures regarding rumor mongers to tarnish its brand image,” the bank said in a prepared statement.
Oops. Lost. SVC Coop Bank says it has nothing to do with SVB – Silicon Valley Bank. Of course, you have a completely unrelated SVC. Banking is such a tough business! pic.twitter.com/lu2W8JLTKn
– Tamal Bandyopadhyay (@TamalBandyo) March 12, 2023
Within one week, the United States witnessed the collapse of three large cryptocurrency banks under market pressure. The regulators who agreed to close these banks said their precarious business situation could pose a serious threat to the US economy.
However, the successive crashes of these cryptocurrency-friendly banks in the US have managed to catch the world’s attention, leading to a loud alarm about the dangers of the volatile nature of cryptocurrencies.
On March 14, India’s Minister of State for Technology – Rajeev Chandrasekhar – interacted with a group of startups to assess the impact on them of the Silicon Valley bank collapse.
To mitigate the adverse financial impact on the market, the US authorities were quick to announce that all custodians associated with the failing banks would be able to access their funds.