美国国家公共电台 NPR--Biden spoke on his administration is taking to save customers of Silicon Valley Bank

Biden spoke¹ on his administration is taking to save customers of Silicon² Valley Bank

Transcript³

The Biden administration has stepped in to save customers of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.

SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST:

The Biden administration has stepped in to save customers of Silicon Valley Bank and another lender, Signature Bank. It's an extraordinary effort to contain the fallout of the collapsed⁴ financial institution from spreading to other parts of the U.S. banking⁵ sector⁶. That's a fear that President Biden addressed a short while ago.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: Today, thanks to the quick action of my administration over the past few days, Americans can have confidence that the banking system is safe. Your deposits will be there when you need them.

PFEIFFER: Administration officials say all the bank's customers will be able to get all their funds at no cost to taxpayers⁸. And HSBC said it is purchasing the U.K. subsidiary of the bank for just 1 pound. NPR's David Gura joins us now. Hi, David.

DAVID GURA, BYLINE⁹: Hey, Sacha.

PFEIFFER: What exactly is the federal government doing here?

GURA: Well, most of the deposits at Silicon Valley Bank, about 90% of them, were not insured by the FDIC. They were too big. The FDIC only guarantees deposits up to $250,000. So what regulators have done here is they've created a backstop so that every deposit at that failed bank is protected, and they're using an existing insurance fund, one the banks pay fees into. So officials say this is not happening at taxpayer⁷ expense. I'll add, customers at another failed bank are in the same boat. We learned last night New York regulators closed Signature Bank, and the administration says its customers will also be able to get their money back. There'd been a lot of concern customers would not be able to pay rent or make payroll¹⁰. So with this emergency action, that should not be an issue.

PFEIFFER: The markets are now open today. How is Wall Street reacting to this?

GURA: Administration officials hoped this would allay¹¹ fears of contagion¹². They've also authorized¹³ the Federal Reserve to offer more funding to banks in case there's a run on deposits at other lenders. But it's clear Wall Street is still worried. Trading has been pretty volatile¹⁴ this morning. Shares of bank stocks are falling. First Republic Bank, which was one of Silicon Valley Bank's peers, also had a lot of uninsured deposits. It's trading down almost 70%. But it's not just regional banks that are suffering, Sacha. The big banks are also down this morning, although not as dramatically.

PFEIFFER: David, Biden administration officials seem intent on saying this is not a bailout. But is it a bailout?

GURA: So this is not 2008 all over again. And the administration says a big reason why is they're not doing anything to help shareholders¹⁵ of these banks. Those investors¹⁶ took a risk, they say, and now they're out of luck. No one is coming to their rescue. And again, the backstop is being paid for with fees banks have paid to the FDIC. But, of course, the optics of this and the politics have been and continue to be challenging. Effectively, what you have here, Sacha, is the government offering a lifeline to both commercial entities¹⁷ and wealthy depositors.

PFEIFFER: I know there are a lot of complicated economics behind this, but what's the short version of how Silicon Valley Bank collapsed in the first place?

GURA: So simply put, the bank's bread and butter was tech, and it made a lot of money when interest rates were low and tech was booming. But now, of course, there's a downturn. Rising interest rates have made its portfolio¹⁸ of bonds much less valuable. Customers were withdrawing more and more money, and Silicon Valley Bank was bringing in less. And then last week, after the lender announced it had sold a lot of those bonds at a loss to cover those withdrawal¹⁹ requests, customers got worried. There was a bank run. They took out $42 billion on Thursday alone. That spooked investors. Silicon Valley Bank's share price sank. And on Friday, California regulators shut it down.

PFEIFFER: What happens to Silicon Valley Bank now?

GURA: The FDIC is in control of it. It's looking for a buyer. President Biden and regulators are vowing²⁰ to get to the bottom of what happened here and to hold those responsible to account. Many venture capitalists pushed companies they worked with to withdraw their money, leading some to say they accelerated this bank run. And there is scrutiny²¹ of the decisions the head of Silicon Valley Bank and its board made before it collapsed.

PFEIFFER: That's NPR's David Gura. Thank you.

GURA: Thank you.

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 silicon   

n.硅(旧名矽)

参考例句：

• This company pioneered the use of silicon chip.这家公司开创了使用硅片的方法。
• A chip is a piece of silicon about the size of a postage stamp.芯片就是一枚邮票大小的硅片。

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

5 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

6 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

7 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

8 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

9 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

10 payroll   

n.工资表，在职人员名单，工薪总额

参考例句：

• His yearly payroll is $1.2 million.他的年薪是120万美元。
• I can't wait to get my payroll check.我真等不及拿到我的工资单了。

11 allay   

v.消除，减轻(恐惧、怀疑等)

参考例句：

• The police tried to allay her fears but failed.警察力图减轻她的恐惧，但是没有收到什么效果。
• They are trying to allay public fears about the spread of the disease.他们正竭力减轻公众对这种疾病传播的恐惧。

12 contagion   

n.(通过接触的疾病)传染；蔓延

参考例句：

• A contagion of fear swept through the crowd.一种恐惧感在人群中迅速蔓延开。
• The product contagion effect has numerous implications for marketing managers and retailers.产品传染效应对市场营销管理者和零售商都有很多的启示。

13 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。

14 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。

15 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

16 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

17 entities   

实体对像； 实体，独立存在体，实际存在物( entity的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Our newspaper and our printing business form separate corporate entities. 我们的报纸和印刷业形成相对独立的企业实体。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities. 北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

18 portfolio   

n.公事包；文件夹；大臣及部长职位

参考例句：

• He remembered her because she was carrying a large portfolio.他因为她带着一个大公文包而记住了她。
• He resigned his portfolio.他辞去了大臣职务。

19 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

20 vowing   

起誓，发誓（vow的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• President Bush is vowing to help Minneapolis rebuild its collapsed bridge. 布什总统承诺将帮助明尼阿波利斯重建坍塌的大桥。
• President Bush is vowing to help Minneapolis rebuild this collapse bridge. 布什总统发誓要帮助明尼阿波利斯重建起这座坍塌的桥梁。

21 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。