(Western Mass News – Kristin Burnell) The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank have affected the banking industry. Now two more banks are in the spotlight, Credit Suisse and First Republic.
Western Mass News spoke with the CEO of Easthampton Savings Bank who told us the latest financial struggles we’re seeing should not be a concern for local bankers.
“We’re kind of still doing a deep dive into how pervasive this spreads but I feel like right now as we speak, it’s getting to be contained but the obvious concern is does this spread to other banks?” said Senator Velis.
The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and signature bank has raised many concerns and questions about the U.S. banking system.
“It’s obviously a domestic and now global problem,” said Sosik. “For us the important thing is not so much that we’re just worried about ourselves, but we look at our local industry and the local community banking industry and we see a lot of strong companies.”
Matthew Sosik is the CEO of Bankesb, based out of Easthampton. He told us even as tensions remain high over a potential banking crisis, he believes it will not create issues at local banks.
“We are committed to very simple business models,” said Sosik. “We take in local deposits, and we make local loans and that just doesn’t allow us to even remotely enter the fray of some of the banks that are front and center in the headlines.”
However, he added, it is important for people to have deposit insurance to cover their entire balance.
“The most important thing for our case at Bankesb and more broadly in the community banking space, all of our deposits are insured in full so if folks are out there and they’re in a regional or national bank, they may want to have some concern about their deposits were are get answer for that.”
State Senator John Velis told us the latest bank fallout is something they are keeping an eye on at the State House.
“The main issue from our standpoint right now is ensuring that the small businesses, the employees’ people who have deposits in those banks are okay,” said Senator Velis. “We have got every reason to believe the federal government is stepping in. I don’t think at this point it’s comparable to what we experienced in 2008.”
The Massachusetts Bankers Association also issued a statement to Western Mass News that reads in part:
“The Massachusetts banking industry is strong, resilient, and well-capitalized. The 132 FDIC-insured banks operating across the commonwealth have a different and more diversified business model than that of Silicon Valley Bank”