Leaders | The financial system

What’s wrong with the banks

Rising interest rates have left banks exposed. Time to fix the system—again

Mar 16th 2023

Only ten days ago you might have thought that the banks had been fixed after the nightmare of the financial crisis in 2007-09. Now it is clear that they still have the power to cause a heart-stopping scare. A ferocious run at Silicon Valley Bank on March 9th saw $42bn in deposits flee in a day. svb was just one of three American lenders to collapse in the space of a week. Regulators worked frantically over the weekend to devise a rescue. Even so, customers are asking once again if their money is safe.

This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “What’s wrong with the banks”