Silicon Valley Bank (SVB): What better way to start off our list than with the bank that hit it off first, the SVB. SVB’s failure was due to its high number of uninsured deposits, and the fact that most of its deposits are invested in treasury bonds.

All of that is fine if things are looking normal, but SVB’s depositors are withdrawing their cash unlike what SVB hoped for, forcing SVB to make up for it by selling their bonds for a $1.8 billion loss. Simply, they put their money in a time capsule, hoping it to grow, and when depositors ask SVB for their money back, SVB had to break their time capsule at a loss to get a hand of that cash.

On another note, a huge chunk of SVB has just recently been bought by First Citizens, so it is now back in operation under a new hat.

Silvergate Bank: Silvergate Bank was liquidated by its parent company, Silvergate Capital, which also discontinued operations. Silvergate had its fair share of turmoil having had FTX, a disgraced cryptocurrency platform, as one of its biggest clients. Prior to its fall, Silvergate failed to file its annual report and was facing scrutiny by the officials. As with SVB, depositors started to rethink the bank’s credibility, and an $8 billion run on deposits marked Silvergate’s demise.

Signature Bank: Unlike its peers that fell from being exposed to scandals like FTX’s failure, money laundering involving cocaine, or having a huge chunk of their cash stacked in an asset that is falling in value, Signature Bank’s fall was rather benign. All that we are told so far is that Signature Bank was said to have failed in providing reliable data to regulatory bodies, which caused a confidence crisis in its management, and then it was followed by the deafening rings of depositors withdrawing their money. Much like those that fell before it. Signature Bank was then bought by New York Community Bancorp.

Credit Suisse: Credit Suisse’s fall is not very surprising, given the mood of the market right now. Much like Tiger Woods, the bank has quite a story to tell, and you’ll be left surprised at how they are still running.

Now, to name a few of Credit Suisse’s ‘notable’ events — in the year 2020, its Chief Executive was pressured to resign following an investigation that unveiled how the bank hired private investigators to spy on their ex-head of wealth management that moved to their rival, UBS.

Around a year after that, the bank suffered a $5.5 billion loss due to the default of Achegos. Then, a former Credit Suisse employee was found guilty in a cocaine cash laundering case.

The bank then went on to report the highest annual loss since 2008 earlier in 2023, before having its stock plundered down in March 2023, due to a statement made by Ammar al-Khudairy, Saudi National Bank’s (SNB) ex-Chairman who resigned due to the aftermath of his own statement.

Ammar al-Khudairy who chaired SNB mentioned that SNB will not increase its stake in Credit Suisse which is currently facing investors’ confidence issues — and as quick as a spark catches on to fuel, Credit Suisse’s already troubled situation saw itself going for a dizzying ride downhill.

To put matters into perspective, SNB is one of the biggest funders for Credit Suisse, and when daddy decides your allowances are no more, it calls for a certain level of self-reflection on Credit Suisse, which is now looking into the mirror only to see the reflection of what was once its own archrival — UBS.