硅谷银行倒闭 拜登紧急干预

The Biden administration has stepped in to save Silicon Valley Bank's customers.

拜登政府已经出手拯救硅谷银行的客户。

It's an extraordinary effort to contain the fallout of the collapsed financial institution from spreading to other parts of the US banking sector.

拜登政府阻止这家金融机构倒闭的余波蔓延到美国银行业的其他领域，这是一个非同寻常费力之举。

Treasury officials say all the bank's customers will be able to get all their funds at no cost to taxpayers.

财政部官员称，不需要纳税人付出任何代价，该银行所有客户就能提取他们的全部资金。

And HSBC said it is purchasing the U.K. subsidiary of the bank for just 1 pound.

汇丰银行表示，将以1英镑的价格收购硅谷银行英国子公司。

Wow. NPR tech reporter Bobby Allyn joins us now to discuss all that's happening. Hi, Bobby.

哇。NPR科技记者鲍比·阿林将与我们连线、讨论正在发生的一切。你好, 鲍比。

Hey, Leila.

嘿, 莱拉。

So what exactly is the federal government doing to avert a crisis here?

联邦政府究竟在采取什么措施来避免这场危机呢？

So federal regulators are making sure that customers who have collectively billions of dollars in the bank - that they will be able to get their money, right?

联邦监管机构正在确保那些在该行总共存有数十亿美元的客户能够取出他们的钱，对吗?

So many of these customers are tech startups that said they'd have to cease operations and wouldn't be able to pay their employees unless they could access their funds.

有很多客户是科技初创公司，这些公司表示，除非能拿到资金，否则他们将不得不停止运转，无法支付员工工资。

Now, federal insurance typically covers up to $250,000 when a bank fails.

现在，一家银行倒闭，联邦保险通常可提供最多25万美元的保险。

But more than 90% of Silicon Valley Bank accounts were above that amount.

但超90%的硅谷银行客户的保单都高于这个数字。

So Treasury officials took the pretty extraordinary step here, Leila, of waiving that insurance cap.

财政部官员采取了极其不同寻常的步骤，蕾拉，免除了保险最高限额。

OK, Bobby. So no taxpayer money. Where does this money come from?

好的, 鲍比。不用纳税人的钱。这些钱从哪里来?

So the money's coming from this insurance fund that banks pay into.

这些钱来自银行买进的保险基金。

And because this bank is being bailed out, it means the fund is going to be pretty depleted.

因为这家银行正在接受救助，这意味着这笔资金将会耗尽。

OK. So Biden administration officials seem intent on saying this is not a bailout. But is it a bailout?

好。拜登政府官员似乎有意表明，这不是紧急财政援助。但这是紧急财政援助吗?

Right. I mean, in the traditional sense, no, this isn't the 2008 financial crisis bailout that relied on hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer money.

没错。按照传统意义，这不是2008年金融危机援助，那次援助依靠的是数千亿美元纳税人的钱。

That's not the case here. Banks are not being rescued here. In another sense, though, it is the government taking emergency actions to save the bank's depositors.

这次不是这样。银行并没有得到援助。不过，从另一种意义上讲，政府是在采取紧急行动拯救银行的储户。

And it's quite notable that the government's intervention is a huge lifeline for the tech industry - right? - an industry that historically has been pretty hostile to government regulation and oversight.

值得注意的是，政府干预是科技行业的一条巨大救生索，对吧?——这个行业过去一直对政府的监管、监督持敌对态度。

So tell me more about that. What did the bank do with all the new money it had?

详细给我讲讲。银行用这些新增款项做了什么?

Well, the bank took a big chunk of this new money and invested it in long-term government securities.

嗯，该行从这些新增款项中拿出一大块，将其投资到政府的长期债券中。

And this is where the trouble really started. High interest rates have meant those investments in government securities were not paying off.

这就是麻烦真正开始的地方。高利率意味着这些在政府债券上的投资没有回报。

And at the same time, tech startups were running out of cash and having a really hard time fundraising. So they kept going back to the bank and pulling more and more money out.

与此同时，多家科技初创公司正面临资金短缺，融资非常困难。所以他们不断地回到银行提取出越来越多的钱。

That created a crisis.

这引发了一场危机。

So the bank said, oh, God, what are we going to do?

银行说，天哪，我们该怎么办?

They decided to sell off a massive amount of these government securities to make sure they just had enough money in the bank, which triggered all sorts of panic.

他们决定抛售大量的政府债券，以确保银行里有足够的资金，这引发了各种各样的恐慌。

And customers pulled out $42 billion on Thursday alone. And soon after, the bank went under.

仅周四一天，客户就提取了420亿美元。不久之后，这家银行就倒闭了。

So what's next for Silicon Valley Bank?

那么硅谷银行的下一步是什么呢?

So there's a lot of question around who is to blame.

关于谁该为此负责还有很多问题。

Prominent venture capitalists like Peter Thiel encourage companies to yank money out of the bank.

彼得·蒂尔等知名风险投资家鼓励企业从该行快速撤资。

And that has led some to argue that venture capitalists helped fuel this bank run that put the bank under.

这导致一些人认为，这些风险资本家助长了银行挤兑(存款人集中大量提取存款)，导致银行破产。

Others say Silicon Valley Bank executives made unwise investment decisions and that they should be held responsible.

还有人认为，硅谷银行的高管做出了不明智的投资决定，他们应该为此负责。

President Biden hinted that the administration isn't done looking into this.

拜登总统暗示，政府还没有结束调查。

He said that, quote, "Those responsible for the mess will be held to account."

他的原话是: “那些造成混乱的人将被追究责任。”

But the situation is a big relief to customers, who today can get their money.

不过，这种情况让银行客户松了一口气，他们今天可以拿到他们的钱了。