A few days after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, the Californian credit institution specialized in deposits of hi-tech companies, and Signature Bank, a commercial bank in New York, the rating agency Moody's has revised to "negative" the outlook (medium-long term forecasts) on the US banking system: "We have changed our outlook on the US banking system from stable to negative to reflect the rapid deterioration of the environment operating following the runs of deposits at Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), Silvergate Bank and Signature Bank (SNY) and the bankruptcies of SVB and SNY," it said in a statement.

"Although the Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve and the FDIC have announced that all those who had deposits in SVB and Signature Bank will be restructured, the rapid and substantial decline in the confidence of depositors and bank investors clearly highlights the risks in managing the liabilities of US banks exacerbated by the rapid increase in interest rates. . The Fed announced a new temporary liquidity facility to offer loans to banks against government bond collateral to meet their funding needs and reduce contagion risks. However, banks with substantial unrealised securities losses and uninsured US depositors may be even more susceptible to competition or outright flight, with adverse effects on funding, liquidity, earnings and equity. TheFed's monetary tightening will continue, which could exacerbate some banks' difficulties."

The news came on a day when stock markets roseagain after yesterday's losses, worse in Europe than in the United States, where the rapid interventions of the Biden administration and independent authorities had made it possible to secure the markets.

"We are monitoring the situation" after the crisis triggered by the failure of Silicon Valley Bank, European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said today. "We take note of the rapid and decisive reaction of the US authorities. At EU level there is a very limited presence of Silicon Valley Bank and we are in contact with the relevant authorities but we do not expect repercussions".

The New York Stock Exchange had already found the '+' sign less than an hour after yesterday's opening, and today it opened well: the Dow Jones index rose by 0.89% to 32,103.57 points, the S&P 500 gained 1.26% to 3,904.36, the Nasdaq 1.58% to 11,365.30 points. Regional bank stocks rebounded in double digits: First Republic Bank rose 55% after losing 62% yesterday, PacWestBancorp 40%, Western Alliance Bancorp 21%.

While, according to the Wall Street Journal, the Department of Justice and the SEC, the American supervisory authority similar to our Consob, have started investigations into the failure of Silicon Valley Bank, US politics is busy launchingcross-accusations about the responsibility for the collapse. Republicans blame Democrats, especially Trump points the finger at SVB's policies on diversity and the environment. Conversely, the Democrats who sit in Congress blame the deregulation implemented during the presidential term of the tycoon, but also against the central bank, which would not have fully fulfilled its duty of supervision.

Meanwhile, the race to transfer deposits from regional banks to large institutions such as JPMorgan and Citigroup has begun. records the Financial Times. Consumer requests to transfer funds are flooding large banks, as they try to accommodate requests by speeding up the process of opening current accounts.

Americans can "have confidence" in their banking system that is "sound," President Joe Biden said yesterday, the administration will do "whatever it takes" to keep it that way. He also announced that he will ask Congress to legislate to "strengthen" banking regulation, tightened in 2008 after the Lehman Brothers debacle and then eased again during Donald Trump's term, so "as to make this kind of failure less likely to happen again, and protect American jobs." He also argued that executives of troubled banks should be fired: "They knowingly took a risk, when it didn't bear fruit they lost their money."

The priority, in Washington D.C., is to avoid panic in the markets and the "bank run", the rush to withdraw from the bank that could cause great damage. The SVB debacle exposed the fragility of the entire US banking system after the Fed's monetary tightening. Rising interest rates in the U.S. have prompted customers to invest their money in financial products that yield more than checking accounts, draining a source of liquidity for the money-seeking tech sector.