US President Joe Biden said on Monday that the banking system is “safe and sound” after bailing out regional bank First Republic, the third bank in North America hit by the financial storm that hit in March.
Joe Biden hailed the measures taken in recent hours by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the US federal deposit insurance agency, to ease the trading process for the bankrupt First Republic, whose assets were acquired by JPMorgan Chase.
“These actions will keep the banking system safe and sound, which includes protecting small businesses across the country that need to be able to pay wages to their workers,” Joe Biden said at a White House small business development event.
The President added that thanks to the intervention and sale of the First Republic, all Americans with bank accounts will still be able to access their savings.
The president also pointed out that the rescue of the First Republic was carried out without recourse to US taxpayer money, since JPMorgan Chase took all of its deposits and virtually all of its assets.
During the financial crisis of 2008, then-President George W. Bush (2001–2008) had to use money from the public treasury to fund a $700 billion bailout for banks and other financial sector services.
The FDIC announced this Monday that JPMorgan has won a tender to buy First Republic’s assets.
As of April 13, First Republic, one of the top 15 banks in the country, had about $229.1 billion in total assets and $103.9 billion in total deposits.
The bank, which had already been bailed out by a $30 billion fund provided by the country’s major financial firms, including JPMorgan, collapsed again after the announcement of quarterly results that revealed it lost $100 billion in deposits during the worst of the crisis.
San Francisco-based First Republic is struggling after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in March.
Regulators spent the weekend trying to find a solution ahead of the US stock exchanges opening, according to the Associated Press (AP) news agency.
Last Friday, First Republic shares closed at $3.51, up from about $170 a year ago.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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