美国国家公共电台 NPR--The biggest banks in the U.S. are stepping in to save First Republic Bank

The biggest banks in the U.S. are stepping in to save First Republic Bank

Transcript¹

Eleven big banks are offering a lifeline to First Republic Bank, a smaller lender that's been under pressure since Silicon² Valley Bank collapsed³ a week ago.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Some of this country's biggest banks are sending money to a bank in trouble.

SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST:

First Republic Bank is headquartered in San Francisco. That's not far from the headquarters of Silicon Valley Bank, which failed a week ago. And although First Republic appears healthier, it's been facing some of the same pressures and a lot of anxiety. So other banks passed the hat, and it's a fairly large hat - $30 billion.

INSKEEP: NPR's David Gura joins us now.

David, good morning.

DAVID GURA, BYLINE⁴: Good morning, Steve.

INSKEEP: How did their fellow bankers come to rescue First Republic?

GURA: Well, this is a pretty extraordinary deal, and it came together over just 48 hours as a result of the incredible volatility⁵ that we've seen on Wall Street in shares of some of America's small and mid-sized lenders after regulators closed Silicon Valley Bank and also Signature Bank.

INSKEEP: Yeah.

GURA: First Republic Bank has been caught up in that. It faced an exodus⁶ of customers as they moved their money to other, larger banks. And while that happened, the lender's stock got hammered. Driving this, Steve, was worry that first Republic could find itself in the same boat as those two failed lenders, that it could also face a bank run. The way this is going to work is four of the big banks, including Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase, are each going to put up $5 billion and the seven other lenders are going to put up the rest.

And effectively what they're doing here is opening up a bank account or bank accounts at First Republic, and they're putting their money in, just like you might or I might, Steve, except it's $30 billion. And that money is going to replenish⁷ those coffers that have been emptied out over the last week. And the hope is it'll both shore up confidence in First Republic, and it will bolster⁸ confidence in banking⁹ more broadly.

INSKEEP: Just so I know, David, if they open a new account and deposit $30 billion, do they get free checking with that?

GURA: (Laughter) I think that could be arranged.

INSKEEP: Hopefully that could be arranged. OK, so you said some customers were taking money out, and that was part of the pressure here. Why would they be panicking?

GURA: This is a lender that in some ways does have a similar profile to Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. It has a lot of wealthy individuals as customers and businesses as clients. What's quite remarkable¹¹ here, Steve, is, like many lenders that have come under pressure this week, it was not known to have any big underlying¹² problems yet it was caught up in the selloff. Tim Coffey is a bank analyst¹³ with the brokerage Janney.

TIM COFFEY: From a credit perspective, it's a very safe institution. They don't do a lot of risky¹⁴ loans. The majority of the portfolio¹⁵ is single-family residential¹⁶ mortgage loans. And those loans are to high net worth individuals who deposit large sums.

GURA: You know, what First Republic does have, Steve, is a lot of deposits that are large - too big to be insured by the FDIC. And like many other banks, it's invested in government bonds that are now less valuable because the Federal Reserve has been raising interest rates aggressively over the last year. First Republic is facing potential losses because of that.

INSKEEP: OK. So their investments lose money. They've got less resources. Depositors say, I'm not fully¹⁰ insured, so they start taking out money. And suddenly I guess it would be like that scene in "It's A Wonderful Life." You have to pay every deposit or every dollar they ask for or you close.

GURA: Yeah, and also these two bank failures have made Wall Street very nervous. There is widespread worry that regardless of a bank's profile, how healthy its balance sheet is, another bank could suffer a similar implosion¹⁷. And that Janney analyst, Tim Coffey, says a lot of this fear is being driven by emotion, not by data.

COFFEY: What we have right now in the banking industry is a crisis of confidence.

GURA: And this new deal, Steve, is designed to tackle that head on.

INSKEEP: So is it going to succeed then?

GURA: Well, the hope is that, but things are so volatile¹⁸ right now, we don't know for sure. We don't know how many customers left First Republic over the last week or how much money they took with them when they left. Tim Coffey told me he thinks that $30 billion is going to be, as he put it, an adequate amount. The regulators certainly say they appreciate the deal. In a joint¹⁹ statement that's just two sentences long, the Treasury²⁰ secretary and the Federal Reserve chair, the heads of some other agencies, said the banks' show of support is, as they put it, most welcome, Steve, and that it, quote, "demonstrates the resilience of the banking system."

INSKEEP: NPR's David Gura.

Thanks so much.

GURA: Thanks, Steve.

1 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。

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 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。

4 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。

5 volatility   

n.挥发性，挥发度，轻快，（性格）反复无常

参考例句：

• That was one reason why volatility was so low last year.这也是去年波动性如此低的原因之一。
• Yet because volatility remained low for so long,disaster myopia prevailed.然而，由于相当长的时间里波动性小，灾难短视就获胜了。

6 exodus   

v.大批离去，成群外出

参考例句：

• The medical system is facing collapse because of an exodus of doctors.由于医生大批离去，医疗系统面临崩溃。
• Man's great challenge at this moment is to prevent his exodus from this planet.人在当前所遇到的最大挑战，就是要防止人从这个星球上消失。

7 replenish   

vt.补充；(把…)装满；(再)填满

参考例句：

• I always replenish my food supply before it is depleted.我总是在我的食物吃完之前加以补充。
• We have to import an extra 4 million tons of wheat to replenish our reserves.我们不得不额外进口四百万吨小麦以补充我们的储备。

8 bolster   

n.枕垫；v.支持，鼓励

参考例句：

• The high interest rates helped to bolster up the economy.高利率使经济更稳健。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

9 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。

10 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

11 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

12 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

13 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

14 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

15 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。

16 residential   

adj.提供住宿的；居住的；住宅的

参考例句：

• The mayor inspected the residential section of the city.市长视察了该市的住宅区。
• The residential blocks were integrated with the rest of the college.住宿区与学院其他部分结合在了一起。

17 implosion   

n.向内破裂，内爆

参考例句：

• The population explosion is accompanied by a population implosion.人口爆炸还伴随着人口爆聚。

18 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。

19 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

20 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。