Silicon Valley Bank gets a new boss as former CEO and CFO are sued for fraud

New CEO Tim Mayopoulos said the bank is “conducting business as usual”.

Silicon Valley Bank has a new CEO —  former Fannie Mae head and president of tech company Blend, Tim Mayopoulos.

The new CEO told the bank’s clients on Monday that it is not only open but conducting business as usual after he was appointed by the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

The regulator transferred all deposits to the newly created entity, Silicon Valley Bank N.A., and has said that all deposits will have access to their funds from Monday morning. 

“I look forward to getting to know the clients of Silicon Valley Bank...I also come to this role with experience in these kinds of situations,” Mayopoulos wrote in the letter to clients. 

“I was part of the new leadership team that joined Fannie Mae in the wake of the financial crisis in 2008-09, and I served as the CEO of Fannie Mae from 2012-18.”

Mayopoulos informed clients that the newly created bridge bank will provide more information when it is available.

Former CEO Greg Becker stepped down from the role amid the chaos of the bank’s collapse and is currently being sued by shareholders alongside former chief financial officer Daniel Beck and SVB Financial Group.

Shareholders have accused the execs of concealing how rising interest rates would leave the Silicon Valley Bank unit “particularly susceptible” to a bank run and appears to be the first of several likely lawsuits.

Both Becker and Beck sold millions of dollars worth of shares two weeks before the firm collapsed.

Becker offloaded around $3.6bn worth of shares — around 12,500 — while Beck sold $575,180 in stocks in a separate transaction on the same day.