Despite Silicon Valley Bank’s shock collapse causing large-scale migrations from regional US banks to banking giants like JPMorgan and Citibank, Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LSE:LLOY)'s chief executive Charlie Nunn has yet to see the trend cross the Atlantic.
Speaking at a Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) event on Tuesday, Nunn explained that the collapse of the specialist lender was "relatively idiosyncratic compared to the UK," and therefore, British banks had not experienced the same level of banking turmoil and stock market rout as their American counterparts.
A “flight to quality” in deposits from spooked customers of perceptively riskier British regional banks simply hasn’t happened yet.
Meanwhile in the US, JPMorgan and its peers including Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) are struggling with the flood of new clients and deposits and are taking steps to speed up the sign-up process, even as efforts from the government to keep heads cool ramp up.
Following the simultaneous collapse of SVB, Signature Bank and Silvergate Bank, US president Biden on Monday addressed the nation “All customers with deposits in these banks can rest assured, they’ll be protected and they’ll have access to their money as of today.”
“America can have confidence that the banking system is safe,” he said, touting the “immediate action” taken by his administration.
Perhaps the old British stiff upper lip isn’t just a myth after all.