US financial authorities are moving quickly to contain the fallout from the failure of Silicon Valley Bank. They're promising depositors in the California-based lender that they'll get their money in full.
The assurance comes in a joint statement from the US Treasury, the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. It says the three agencies are determined to uphold confidence in the US banking system.
The statement pledges full protection for depositors, and says they will have access to all of their money from Monday. It says Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen approved the move based on discussions with the agencies and President Joe Biden. It also says taxpayers won't bear any of the costs involved.
Silicon Valley is the biggest US bank to fail since the 2008 financial crisis.
Another financial institution, New York's Signature Bank, has also gone under. It has assets totaling 110.3 billion dollars. Financial authorities say they'll offer full protection for deposit holders there as well.
President Biden is calling for calm. He says Americans can have confidence their bank deposits will be there when they need them.
But he's also vowing to hold the people responsible for what he called "this mess" fully accountable.