Amid a financial storm following the bankruptcy of a Silicon Valley bank that financed U.S. startups, it has been confirmed that Silicon SVB paid out large bonuses to its employees just before it closed.

Silicon Valley Bank paid its employees annual bonuses just hours before the decision to close the California Financial Protection and Innovation Agency on Jan. 10, US online outlet Axios reported, citing multiple sources.

The bonuses received by employees this time are for their work during the past year.

It is not known how much bonus was paid on this day.

According to Bloomberg, in 2018, Silicon Valley Bank was one of the highest paid companies among listed banks, with an average salary of 3 million won that year.

Earlier, it was revealed that Greg Becker, chairman and CEO of Silicon Valley Bank, sold 3,27 shares of parent company Silicon Valle Bank Financial on 1 March, worth about 2.451 billion won.

If Becker was aware of Silicon Valley Bank's capital raising plan at the time of Jan. 47, when he reported the plan to sell his stake to the financial authorities, it could amount to "insider trading."

Silicon Valley Bank recently sent a letter to shareholders asking them to raise capital through more than $6 billion in equity issuance to offset losses from bond sales, which sent the company's stock price plummeting, leading to bankruptcy.

(Photo = Getty Images Korea)