© Reuters
By Scott Kanowsky
Investing.com — European bank shares fell on Monday after the collapse of SVB Financial Group (NASDAQ:) raised concerns about the health of the US financial system.
In morning trading, shares of some of the region’s biggest lenders, such as Santander Bank (BME:), Commerzbank (ETR:) and UniCredit (BIT:), were near the bottom of the pan-European list.
Europe also fell about 1%, adding to losses last week that stemmed from the turmoil surrounding SVB.
With $212 billion in assets, SVB was the second largest failed lender in US history.
Elsewhere, on Monday, HSBC agreed with the Bank of England to buy SVB’s UK operations. In a joint statement with the Treasury, the bank said it could confirm that “all depositors’ money with SVBUK is safe and secure as a result of this transaction” and that “all services will continue to operate as normal and customers should not notice no changes.” London-listed shares of HSBC (LON:) dipped slightly into the red after the announcement.
Over the weekend, the US Treasury, the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation also put together a bailout package that essentially protected all SVB depositors, including those with assets above the credit limit. $250,000 guaranteed by the federal government.
