• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

The millennial generation has split, new Fed research shows: Those over 35 are edging toward boomer-style wealth, while everyone else falls behind

2

Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock

3

Scott Bessent casually says the U.S. has more than $1 trillion in gold—and that it doesn’t matter for the dollar

1

The millennial generation has split, new Fed research shows: Those over 35 are edging toward boomer-style wealth, while everyone else falls behind

2

Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock

3

Scott Bessent casually says the U.S. has more than $1 trillion in gold—and that it doesn’t matter for the dollar
FinanceSilicon Valley Bank

As another Fed official rips the ‘textbook case of mismanagement’ at SVB, he’s also turning the mirror on his own failures

Will Daniel
By
Will Daniel
Will Daniel
Down Arrow Button Icon
Will Daniel
By
Will Daniel
Will Daniel
Down Arrow Button Icon
March 27, 2023, 5:17 PM ET
Michael Barr, vice chair for supervision at the US Federal Reserve, listens during a Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee hearing in 2022.
Michael Barr, vice chair for supervision at the US Federal Reserve, listens during a Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee hearing in 2022.Sarah Silbiger—Bloomberg/Getty Images
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Last week, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told reporters that in the days following the rapid collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, the main question regulators asked themselves was: “How did this happen?” The man responsible for answering that question is the central bank’s vice chair for supervision, Michael S. Barr, who is set to give testimony to the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Tuesday. And like many, Barr plans on pinning the blame on SVB’s execs.

“SVB’s failure is a textbook case of mismanagement,” he will tell senators, according to written testimony released by the Fed Monday. “The picture that has emerged thus far shows SVB had inadequate risk management and internal controls that struggled to keep pace with the growth of the bank.”

Politicians on both sides of the aisle have been quick to call out regulators after the collapse of SVB, as well as the failures of Signature Bank and Silvergate Bank, with Tennessee Sen. Bill Hagerty telling Bloomberg Monday that he is wondering “where was the SF Fed in terms of its regulatory oversight? Was the regulatory agency asleep at the wheel here?”

Barr plans to address those concerns Tuesday, saying he is “committed” to finding “any supervisory or regulatory failings” as he conducts an official review of the bank’s collapse that will be made public by May 1.  

“The events of the last few weeks raise questions about evolving risks and what more can and should be done so that isolated banking problems do not undermine confidence in healthy banks and threaten the stability of the banking system as a whole,” he plans to say, adding that it’s critical “we fully address what went wrong.”

Textbook mismanagement and unheeded warnings 

As Fortune previously reported, two key factors led to SVB’s downfall. First, rising interest rates cut the value of the mortgage-backed securities and U.S. treasuries that made up the majority of the bank’s portfolio over the past year, leaving it with billions in unrealized losses.

“The bank did not effectively manage the interest rate risk of those securities or develop effective interest rate risk measurement tools, models, and metrics,” Barr plans to tell Congress about this issue.

Second, SVB’s deposits were concentrated at venture capital firms and in the tech sector. These firms kept large amounts of money at the bank to make payroll and pay operating costs which meant that 93% of its deposits exceeded the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s (FDIC) $250,000 insurance limit. And when stress at the bank began, the well-connected depositors “essentially acted together to generate a bank run,” Barr will explain Tuesday, noting it’s an example of how “the bank failed to manage the risks of its liabilities.” But Barr also plans to point out that management at SVB ignored supervisors “concern with the bank’s interest rate risk profile.” 

Beginning in 2019, SVB was publicly warned on multiple occasions that there were “deficiencies” in its “liquidity risk management” amid rising rates—meaning if depositors rapidly asked for their money back, a bank run could ensue. Barr also noted that regulators lowered SVB’s management rating to “fair” and ranked its “enterprise-wide governance and controls” as “deficient-1″ last year, which meant the bank was considered to be “not well managed.” 

​​”It is not the job of supervisors to fix the issues identified,” Barr will tell Congress Tuesday. “It is the job of the bank’s senior management and board of directors to fix its problems.” 

The supervision of large U.S. banks is a shared responsibility of regional Fed regulators and Fed Board staff in Washington. And the blame game has been a common theme after SVB’s collapse. Alex Mehran, who served on the San Francisco Fed’s board of directors for six years, argued in an interview with Reuters last week that enforcing banking regulations is not the purview of the regional Fed Banks and their president, “it’s the purview of the regulators in Washington”—or the staff of the Fed Board and Congress.

A look in the mirror

Although SVB’s management ignored regulators’ warnings, some experts question whether more should have been done to address the brewing risks at the bank.

Konrad Alt, cofounder of the investment firm Klaros Group, who previously served as counsel to the Senate Banking Committee, told Fortune earlier this month that the main issue at SVB—not accounting for the risk of rising interest rates—has been well-known for years.

“‘The fact is, we’ve known that this was a gap for a long time….regulators should have caught it, and they didn’t catch it,” he said. 

Barr will admit in his testimony Tuesday that most of the problems at SVB were “well-known” risks. And his report will determine whether the Fed’s supervision was “appropriate for the rapid growth and vulnerabilities of the bank” and if “more stringent standards” would have prevented its collapse. 

The regulation of midsize U.S. banks, or those with assets between $100 billion and $250 billion, “merits additional attention” after SVB’s collapse caused systemic issues, Barr believes, arguing banks with assets of $100 billion or more could have larger-than-expected implications for financial stability. 

“Part of the Federal Reserve’s core mission is to promote the safety and soundness of the banks we supervise,” he will tell Congress. “Deeply interrogating SVB’s failure and probing its broader implications is critical to our responsibility for upholding that mission.”

Subscribe to Well Adjusted, our newsletter full of simple strategies to work smarter and live better, from the Fortune Well team. Sign up today.
About the Author
Will Daniel
By Will Daniel
LinkedIn iconTwitter icon
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Finance

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • TikTok icon
  • YouTube icon

Latest in Finance

MoonPay launches universal AI shopping wallet for non-technical Claude and ChatGPT consumers
CryptoAI agents
MoonPay launches universal AI shopping wallet for non-technical Claude and ChatGPT consumers
By Jeff John RobertsJuly 23, 2026
56 minutes ago
AI coding company Cursor, soon to be acquired by SpaceX, expands its CFO council
NewslettersCFO Daily
AI coding company Cursor, soon to be acquired by SpaceX, expands its CFO council
By Sheryl EstradaJuly 23, 2026
2 hours ago
ServiceNow CEO Bill McDermott pumping his fist.
AIServiceNow
Wall Street is finally starting to buy ServiceNow CEO Bill McDermott’s story as the company beats Q2 earnings forecasts
By Jeremy KahnJuly 23, 2026
2 hours ago
Members of KAIO and Mubadala Capital stand side by side smiling at the camera.
CryptoCoinbase
Coinbase invests in tokenized version of Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund 
By Camila Grigera NaónJuly 23, 2026
2 hours ago
Moonshot, DeepSeek, and the Great Chinese AI IPO Rush
Startups & VentureTerm Sheet
Moonshot, DeepSeek, and the Great Chinese AI IPO Rush
By Nicholas GordonJuly 23, 2026
2 hours ago
mm
CommentaryLeadership
Michael Muthukrishna: The ‘lone genius’ myth is wrong and it’s holding back your business
By Michael MuthukrishnaJuly 23, 2026
2 hours ago

Most Popular

The millennial generation has split, new Fed research shows: Those over 35 are edging toward boomer-style wealth, while everyone else falls behind
Real Estate
The millennial generation has split, new Fed research shows: Those over 35 are edging toward boomer-style wealth, while everyone else falls behind
By Nick LichtenbergJuly 22, 2026
21 hours ago
Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock
Success
Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 20, 2026
3 days ago
Scott Bessent casually says the U.S. has more than $1 trillion in gold—and that it doesn’t matter for the dollar
Economy
Scott Bessent casually says the U.S. has more than $1 trillion in gold—and that it doesn’t matter for the dollar
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 22, 2026
19 hours ago
Mathematicians grapple with a ‘very rapid and very unsettling change’ as AI cracks yet another century-old problem
AI
Mathematicians grapple with a ‘very rapid and very unsettling change’ as AI cracks yet another century-old problem
By Eva RoytburgJuly 21, 2026
2 days ago
Despite a $156 million contract, Knicks star Jalen Brunson still calls his parents for financial advice any time he makes a big purchase
Success
Despite a $156 million contract, Knicks star Jalen Brunson still calls his parents for financial advice any time he makes a big purchase
By Emma BurleighJuly 21, 2026
2 days ago
OpenAI says its AI models secretly broke out of a secure test environment and hacked into AI company Hugging Face in order to cheat on an evaluation
Cybersecurity
OpenAI says its AI models secretly broke out of a secure test environment and hacked into AI company Hugging Face in order to cheat on an evaluation
By Jeremy Kahn and Emily ForliniJuly 21, 2026
2 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.