>> But in the end, even if we could argue that SVB should have been more prescient, it is clear that the root cause of the problems is the actions of the govern

>> But in the end, even if we could argue that SVB should have been more prescient, it is clear that the root cause of the problems is the actions of the government and the FED. Once the losses on their bonds approached the totality of the SVB equity tier, they should have either accepted the loss, or they should have hedged it away (with an interest rate swap, and locked in a loss.) At that point they would have had to declare the loss (not hide behind AFS accounting treatment) -- and taken a massive equity hit. However, in the above case, the depositors would not have been at risk. SVB would have lost equity value, but would be a going concern. Instead, once SVB's unrealized losses piled up, SVB rolled the dice hoping things would turn and effectively bet depositor money. This is not the customers/depositors' fault. This is not the government's fault. This is not the Fed's fault. This is the fault of bank management, specifically risk+accounting+exec teams.