US regulators take steps to make sure SVB customers can access all their money

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Sunday instructed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to guarantee Silicon Valley Bank customers will have access to all of their money starting Monday.

By guaranteeing all deposits -- even the uninsured money customers kept with the failed SVB bank -- the government can ensure public confidence in America's banking system, said Yellen, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and FDIC Chairman Martin J. Gruenberg in a joint statement.

American regulators are working through the weekend on an extraordinary plan to make Silicon Valley Bank customers whole after the financial institutions' stunning and rapid collapse late last week.

RELATED: Silicon Valley Bank shutdown rattles Bay Area start-up owners, tech industry

Treasury, Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. officials over the past two days have worked with the Biden administration to develop facilities that would guarantee all uninsured deposits held by SVB customers.

Spokespeople for the Treasury Department and White House declined to comment on the internal deliberations. The Washington Post first reported the story, citing multiple sources familiar with the matter.

One way to guarantee the deposits: find another bank to buy SVB.

Federal officials spent the weekend pressing for an acquisition of the failed bank's assets and attempted to serve as a facilitator for a private sector solution that would immediately address concerns of a dramatic crisis for holders of uninsured deposits in the bank.

The FDIC opened an auction Sunday for bids to acquire the bank, the Treasury Department said in a briefing with lawmakers in the California delegation, two sources familiar with the briefing told CNN.

But there have also been extensive discussions about the legal authorities tied to providing a federal backstop for the bank's uninsured deposits, as well as a separate Federal Reserve facility that other banks with similar exposure could have access to in order to generate confidence in the market, according to two people familiar with the matter.

READ MORE: How does a bank collapse in 48 hours? A timeline of the Silicon Valley Bank fall

No final decisions have been made and the people familiar with the discussions stressed that the overwhelming effort has been directed toward finding a buyer for the failed bank's assets.

Under Secretary for Domestic Finance Nellie Liang and Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs Jonathan Davidson led the briefing, during which they told members that the FDIC is prepared "to operate the institution" to ensure depositors can maintain payroll for their employees and that more operations will emerge in coming days, one of the sources said.

If a sale fails, customers could collect some of their uninsured deposits as the government unwinds and liquidates the bank's assets to repay them. But it's not clear that the companies invested with the bank would recover all or close to all the cash they had stored at SVB through a liquidation alone -- that's why the government is reportedly looking to guarantee the deposits through a taxpayer-funded facility.

The US government is trying to avoid two potentially risky scenarios from the SVB fallout, both of which could have dire consequences: Other banks with similar profiles to SVB could be next to fail if customers lose faith that they will have ample cash to fund their deposits. And the tech companies that kept their cash with Silicon Valley Bank could collapse if they are unable to make payroll or fund their operations with the $250,000 worth of deposits per account that the FDIC insures.

As of the end of last year, Silicon Valley Bank said it had $151.5 billion in uninsured deposits, $137.6 billion of which was held by American customers. Customers yanked $42 billion from Silicon Valley Bank on Thursday, leaving the bank with $1 billion in negative cash balance, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has been in touch with financial regulators all weekend and working with them "diligently" following SVB's collapse, White House Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young told CNN's Kaitlan Collins on "State of the Union."

A bailout of Silicon Valley Bank itself is not under consideration, Yellen said in an interview with CBS Sunday.

ALSO SEE: More Chase customers lose money to ATM thieves using glue and 'tap' feature to steal

"Let me be clear that during the financial crisis, there were investors and owners of systemic large banks that were bailed out ... and the reforms that have been put in place means that we're not going to do that again," Yellen told CBS. "But we are concerned about depositors and are focused on trying to meet their needs."

Yellen acknowledged the government may try to do something to shore up companies that had large, uninsured deposits with SVB.

"We're well aware that many startup firms have deposits and venture capital firms have deposits at this bank that have been affected by its failure," Yellen said. "So this is something we're working to try to resolve."

Statement from President Joe Biden on Actions to Strengthen Confidence in the Banking System

"Over the weekend, and at my direction, the Treasury Secretary and my National Economic Council Director worked diligently with the banking regulators to address problems at Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. I am pleased that they reached a prompt solution that protects American workers and small businesses, and keeps our financial system safe. The solution also ensures that taxpayer dollars are not put at risk.

The American people and American businesses can have confidence that their bank deposits will be there when they need them.

I am firmly committed to holding those responsible for this mess fully accountable and to continuing our efforts to strengthen oversight and regulation of larger banks so that we are not in this position again.

Tomorrow morning, I will deliver remarks on how we will maintain a resilient banking system to protect our historic economic recovery."

(The-CNN-Wire & 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.)