Almost two months after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, the fate of its pioneering Chinese joint venture, SPD Silicon Valley Bank, remains in the balance.A rare type of US-China joint venture lender in the Chinese financial sector, SPD Silicon Valley Bank has played a crucial role in establishing a lending environment for entrepreneurs, offering advice and assistance to local institutions since it was established a decade ago.
Despite fire sales of SVB’s loan book to First Citizens Bank and its UK operation to HSBC, no buyers have emerged for SVB’s stake in the Chinese business, which continues to operate.
“In terms of the foreign stake in the venture bank, we’re communicating with Chinese regulatory authorities and [US regulator] FDIC, and the next step will be to resolve it in accordance with laws and regulations,” said Jade Lu, president of SPD Silicon Valley Bank, in an emailed response to the Financial Times.