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This is appalling, customers have lost access to their funds, because the company didn't have the cash to run their services. No part of the banking system sho

This is appalling, customers have lost access to their funds, because the company didn't have the cash to run their services. No part of the banking system should operate outside the support of a banking regulator who would/should step in with a loan so that customers could move their assets out in an orderly fashion. https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilymason/2024/05/14/judge-says-up-to-20-million-fintech-depositors-are-at-risk-from-synapse-bankruptcy/?sh=22d398665ca4 https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilymason/2024/05/14/judge-say... https://archive.ph/RhAzM https://archive.ph/RhAzM > At an emergency hearing Tuesday, U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Martin R. Barash, of the Central District of California, framed the situation starkly. “What we're really looking at with the meltdown of this company (Synapse), and it is melting down – there was a purchase that didn't go through, it's almost out of cash – is a situation where tens of millions of people do not have access to potentially hundreds of millions of dollars of their deposits,” he said. Barash suggested it was time for the federal bank regulators to get involved.

alephnerd 2y ago
> No part of the banking system should operate outside the support of a banking regulator The main reason fintechs were so nimble was because they would sidestep federal regulators by being state-chartered banks. I am in agreement with you that stare regulators need to also be stricter. We'll probably see state regulators increasingly adopt Basel II and force stricter compliance on state entities this coming decade. Another loophole they often would try is partner with a couple local banks to use as their underlying foundation, and build most of their functionality on top of that. This is what Synapse did [0], and why their underlying banking infra is backed by Evolve Bank & Trust in Tennessee, who provide their underlying banking infra to plenty of other A16Z funded fintechs. They are a member of the Federal Reserve so I wouldn't be worried about your deposits per say. The issue seems to be Synapse's lack of operating capital which means all the "middleware" will functionally stop working. [0] - https://synapsefi.com/legal https://synapsefi.com/legal
- helsinkiandrew 2y ago
  > The issue seems to be Synapse's lack of operating capital which means all the "middleware" will functionally stop working. The only example I can think of how a regulator can stop this is the Lehman bankruptcy. When Lehman went under the U.K. branch was left with zero dollars - nothing to pay staff, rent, or power. The Bank of England sent a £1M within hours to keep the lights on, so the administrators could be appointed and start winding down the assets.
  - alephnerd 2y ago
    Given Synapse's relatively small size, there will most likely be a negotiated acquisition by one of the bigger and Basel II compliant players. This is what was done with SVB, First Republic, Signature, and Silvergate.

alephnerd 2y ago

> No part of the banking system should operate outside the support of a banking regulator The main reason fintechs were so nimble was because they would sidestep federal regulators by being state-chartered banks. I am in agreement with you that stare regulators need to also be stricter. We'll probably see state regulators increasingly adopt Basel II and force stricter compliance on state entities this coming decade. Another loophole they often would try is partner with a couple local banks to use as their underlying foundation, and build most of their functionality on top of that. This is what Synapse did [0], and why their underlying banking infra is backed by Evolve Bank & Trust in Tennessee, who provide their underlying banking infra to plenty of other A16Z funded fintechs. They are a member of the Federal Reserve so I wouldn't be worried about your deposits per say. The issue seems to be Synapse's lack of operating capital which means all the "middleware" will functionally stop working. [0] - https://synapsefi.com/legal https://synapsefi.com/legal

helsinkiandrew 2y ago
> The issue seems to be Synapse's lack of operating capital which means all the "middleware" will functionally stop working. The only example I can think of how a regulator can stop this is the Lehman bankruptcy. When Lehman went under the U.K. branch was left with zero dollars - nothing to pay staff, rent, or power. The Bank of England sent a £1M within hours to keep the lights on, so the administrators could be appointed and start winding down the assets.
- alephnerd 2y ago
  Given Synapse's relatively small size, there will most likely be a negotiated acquisition by one of the bigger and Basel II compliant players. This is what was done with SVB, First Republic, Signature, and Silvergate.