美国国家公共电台 NPR--Biden administration steps in to save customers of Silicon Valley Bank

Biden administration steps in to save customers of Silicon¹ Valley Bank

Transcript²

Federal officials are attempting to restore public confidence in the banking³ system after the collapse⁴ of Silicon Valley Bank.

SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST:

The Biden administration is stepping in to prevent a potential nationwide banking crisis. This morning, the president is expected to address the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. Treasury⁵ officials say all SVB customers will be able to get all their funds at no cost to taxpayers⁶. Despite that announcement, the stock of onetime rivals like First Republic Bank is trading down significantly, signaling marketplace fears. Leila spoke⁸ with NPR tech reporter Bobby Allyn.

LEILA FADEL, BYLINE⁹: So what exactly is the federal government doing to avert¹⁰ a crisis here?

BOBBY ALLYN, BYLINE: So federal regulators are making sure that customers who have collectively billions of dollars in the bank - that they will be able to get their money, right? So many of these customers are tech startups that said they'd have to cease operations and wouldn't be able to pay their employees unless they could access their funds. Now, federal insurance typically covers up to $250,000 when a bank fails. But more than 90% of Silicon Valley Bank accounts were above that amount. So Treasury officials took the pretty extraordinary step here, Leila, of waiving¹¹ that insurance cap. So that means all deposits in the bank will be covered using an insurance fund that banks pay into. This is not using taxpayer⁷ money.

FADEL: OK. So Biden administration officials seem intent on saying this is not a bailout. But is it a bailout?

ALLYN: Right. I mean, in the traditional sense, no. This isn't the 2008 financial crisis bailout that relied on hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer money. That's not the case here. Banks are not being rescued here. In another sense, though, it is the government taking emergency actions to save the bank's depositors. And it's quite notable that the government's intervention¹² is a huge lifeline for the tech industry - right? - an industry that historically has been pretty hostile to government regulation and oversight¹³.

FADEL: So tell me more about that. What did the bank do with all the new money it had?

ALLYN: Well, the bank took a big chunk¹⁴ of this new money and invested it in long-term government securities. And this is where the trouble really started. High interest rates have meant those investments in government securities were not paying off. And at the same time, tech startups were running out of cash and having a really hard time fundraising. So they kept going back to the bank and pulling more and more money out. That created a crisis.

So the bank said, oh, God, what are we going to do? They decided¹⁵ to sell off a massive amount of these government securities to make sure they just had enough money in the bank, which triggered all sorts of panic. And customers pulled out $42 billion on Thursday alone. And soon after, the bank went under.

FADEL: So what's next for Silicon Valley Bank?

ALLYN: So there's a lot of question around who is to blame. Prominent venture capitalists like Peter Thiel encourage companies to yank money out of the bank. And that has led some to argue that venture capitalists helped fuel this bank run that put the bank under. Others say Silicon Valley Bank executives made unwise investment decisions and that they should be held responsible. President Biden hinted that the administration isn't done looking into this. He said that, quote, "those responsible for the mess will be held to account." But the situation is a big relief to customers who today can get their money.

FADEL: NPR tech reporter Bobby Allyn, thanks so much.

ALLYN: Thanks, Leila.

1 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。

2 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。

3 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。

4 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

5 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

6 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。

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 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。

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 avert   

v.防止，避免；转移(目光、注意力等)

参考例句：

• He managed to avert suspicion.他设法避嫌。
• I would do what I could to avert it.我会尽力去避免发生这种情况。

11 waiving   

v.宣布放弃( waive的现在分词 )；搁置；推迟；放弃（权利、要求等）

参考例句：

• Other steps suggested included waiving late payment charges, making quicker loan decisions and easing loan terms. 其他测试还包括免去滞纳金，尽快做出贷款决定和放宽贷款条件。 来自互联网
• Stuyvesant Town offers the same perk on some apartments, along waiving the broker's fee. StuyvesantTown对于他们出租的某些房子也提供同样的好处，顺带还省略了中介费。 来自互联网

12 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

13 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

14 chunk   

n.厚片，大块，相当大的部分（数量）

参考例句：

• They had to be careful of floating chunks of ice.他们必须当心大块浮冰。
• The company owns a chunk of farmland near Gatwick Airport.该公司拥有盖特威克机场周边的大片农田。

15 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。