This March, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) collapsed after gross risk management — making it the largest bank to fail since the Great Recession of 2008. The failure resulted in growing economic instability and prompted another major bank, Signature Bank, to fail as well.

Silicon Valley Bank failed because of executives’ mismanagement of interest rate risk. However, due to weaknesses in our current federal law, SVB’s executives were able to get and keep their bonuses. Greg Becker, SVB’s CEO, received $9.9 million in total compensation in 2022 with a $1.5 million cash bonus. He also sold nearly $30 million in stock, including $3.6 million days before the bank’s failure. READ MORE