New SVB CEO: Startup Debt Facilities ‘Will be Honored,’ Says ‘A Lot of People’ Interested in Bank Assets

The government-appointed CEO of the Silicon Valley ‘bridge bank’ asked venture capitalists on Tuesday morning to keep deposits at the bank and return them to the institution. He also said clients with existing debt facilities will be honored.

“I’m not asking you to do this as an act of charity,” said Tim Mayopoulos, the CEO appointed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to run the entity that will operate until the government secures buyers for the failed Silicon Valley Bank. “There is no safer place,” for those deposits, he said in a Zoom call. He held a later, separate call with startups and other clients.

He also addressed what will happen to the billions of dollars in debt that startups rely on for working capital. SVB was the largest issuer of venture debt, reporting about $6.7 billion in loans to early- and mid-stage private companies last year, according to researchers and securities filings. “Those arrangements are in place and we will honor them,” he said.