No to bailout, says Yellen, despite plea for more help

US authorities were last night working to contain the fallout from Silicon Valley Bank’s demise amid fears that America’s regional banks could be the next to be hit.

Biden administration officials were assessing the impact of the collapse on other lenders as well as venture capital firms.

Treasury secretary Janet Yellen told CBS News: ‘We want to make sure that troubles at one bank don’t create contagion to others that are sound.’

But she ruled out a financial crisis style bank bailout, adding: ‘We are not going to do that again.’

More than 3,500 bosses signed a petition appealing to Yellen to protect their deposits at Silicon Valley Bank, claiming more than 100,000 jobs could be at risk.

The California-based lender, with more than £170bn in assets, was America’s 16th biggest bank. It is the largest bank to fail since the 2008 crisis.

Hedge fund manager Bill Ackman said failing to protect depositors could see them pull funds from regional banks ‘and begin the destruction of these important institutions’.