Posted on 03/13/2023 1:09:09 PM PDT by grundle
Collapsed lender Silicon Valley Bank operated without a chief risk officer between April 2022 and January 2023 while the operation's United Kingdom-based Head of Risk stands accused of prioritizing pro-diversity initiatives over her actual role.
This revelation comes after the firm became the largest bank to collapse since the 2008 financial crisis - disclosing a $1.8 billion loss in its finances.
SVB's former head of risk, Laura Izurieta, who formerly performed a similar role for Capital One, left the bank in April 2022. She wasn't replaced until January 2023 when the bank hired Kim Olson, formerly of Japanese bank Sumitomo Mitsui.
Meanwhile, Jay Ersapah, who acts as Head of Risk for the bank in Europe, Africa and the Middle East and who describes herself as a 'queer person of color from a working-class background' - organized a host of LGBTQ initiatives including a month-long Pride campaign and implemented 'safe space' catch-ups for staff.
In a corporate video published just nine months ago, she said she 'could not be prouder' to work for SVB serving 'underrepresented entrepreneurs.'
Professional network Outstanding listed Ersapah as a top 100 LGTBQ Future Leader.
'Jay is a leading figure for the bank’s awareness activities including being a panelist at the SVB’s Global Pride townhall to share her experiences as a lesbian of color, moderating SVB’s EMEA Pride townhall and was instrumental in initiating the organization's first ever global "safe space catch-up", supporting employees in sharing their experiences of coming out,' her bio on the Outstanding website states.
It adds that she is 'allies' with gay rights charity Stonewall and had authored numerous articles to promote LGBTQ awareness.
These included 'Lesbian Visibility Day and Trans Awareness week.'
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Mistakes were made. Now let’s all just move on. /sarc
where was the board - which should hav been riding leadership about no risk manager and distressed with the investment portfolio - bonds in a rising interest rate environment??
And at least half of our neighbors ...
Oh.. My... Gawd.
The Board members were probably all Woke too and cheering on the Lesbos!
Isn’t that the truth. Its not that hard to understand why the country is going downhill.
Sounds like Brandon’s White House staff...
First, it wasn't SVB's head of "risk assessment" job that was vacant, it was the Chief Risk Officer. CRO is THE top job for risk. I don't know which reporter or editor messed that up in the story.
Second, they can't even get the job title of Jay Ersapah right. In the story, her title per the LinkedIn picture is Head of Financial Risk Management & Model Risk. Yet in the story she's called "Head of Risk" for EMEA. Those are two TOTALLY DIFFERENT roles.
The absence of a CRO for almost a year more than likely helped do them in. Ms Ersapah likely had zero input into asset-liability (mis)management, which is what killed them. Blaming her for anything other than wokey stuff is absurd.
Just emailed JD Vance to ask who gave this Hedge fund a Bank status.
Less than 5% of deposits were within FDIC limits. But you already know that.
Mark Kelly wants to censor speech that could cause a Bank Run. Makes me want a Bank Run.
Trans get a week but lesbians only a day? What a bigot!
This guy, Patrick Boyle, explains how SVB for some inexplicable reason did not hedge against interest rate volatility.
“A number of things went wrong at Silicon Valley Bank over the last days, weeks and years, there were huge failures of risk management. The risk manager would have some tough questions to answer, except that it appears that they didn’t have a risk manager on staff for almost nine months of the last year.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdfYnqyu7v8
united airlines is going woke...hiring pilots..
Should have hired a competent yet boring middle aged straight white dude to be the head risk manager and move the CRA-CRA people to VP of BullShit. That will learn ya. Go from 320 a share to collapse in a week while celebrating perverts. Now tax dollars have to keep these idiots afloat. That’s disgusting.
I will say a prayer that God’s enemies will be completely destroyed and the light of truth of this abomination and foolish self worship will cause them to wish death comes quick.
I will say, “Amen!” to that.
(organized a host of LGBTQ initiatives including a month-long Pride campaign and implemented ‘safe space’ catch-ups for staff.
In a corporate video published just nine months ago, she said she ‘could not be prouder’ to work for SVB serving ‘underrepresented entrepreneurs.’
Professional network Outstanding listed Ersapah as a top 100 LGTBQ Future Leader.
‘Jay is a leading figure for the bank’s awareness activities including being a panelist at the SVB’s Global Pride townhall to share her experiences as a lesbian of color, moderating SVB’s EMEA Pride townhall and was instrumental in initiating the organization’s first ever global “safe space catch-up”, supporting employees in sharing their experiences of coming out,’ her bio on the Outstanding website states.
It adds that she is ‘allies’ with gay rights charity Stonewall and had authored numerous articles to promote LGBTQ awareness.
These included ‘Lesbian Visibility Day and Trans Awareness week.’)
Tagline.
Fed criticized for missing red flags before bank collapse
Critics point to many red flags surrounding Silicon Valley Bank, including its rapid growth since the pandemic, its unusually high level of uninsured deposits and its many investments in long-term government bonds and mortgage-backed securities, which tumbled in value as interest rates rose.
“It’s inexplicable how the Federal Reserve supervisors could not see this clear threat to the safety and soundness of banks and to financial stability,” said Dennis Kelleher, chief executive of Better Markets, an advocacy group.
Wall Street traders and industry analysts “have been publicly screaming about these very issues for many, many months going back to last fall,” Kelleher added.
AP:
On Monday, Powell announced that the Fed would review its supervision of Silicon Valley to understand how it might have better managed its regulation of the bank. The review will be conducted by Michael Barr, the Fed vice chair who oversees bank oversight, and will be publicly released May 1.
“We need to have humility,” Barr said, “and conduct a careful and thorough review of how we supervised and regulated this firm and what we should learn from this experience.”
Silicon Valley’s CEO, Greg Becker, in the past had lobbied Congress for a lighter regulatory touch, and he served on the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco until the day of the Silicon Valley collapse.
“I’m at a loss for words to understand how this business model was deemed acceptable by their regulators,” said Aaron Klein, a congressional aide who worked on the Dodd-Frank banking regulation law that was passed after the 2008 financial crisis.
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