HSBC UK is intending to retain Silicon Valley Bank UK's concentration on start-ups and cutting-edge companies, Ian Stuart, Chief Executive Officer, declared to CNBC. "We are going to keep it enclosed within our own separated bank, it will have its own board, it will have its own risk regulations, we are determined to defend what it possesses now," Stuart indicated after the March acquisition of the bank. Stuart further revealed schemes to expand the renaming bank in the U.S., U.K., Middle East and Asia.
On Tuesday, Ian Stuart, the chief executive of HSBC UK, signalled that the bank would continue to provide support to startup businesses from "seed funding to IPO" following its acquisition of Silicon Valley Bank UK in March for £1 ($1.21). Speaking to CNBC's Arjun Kharpal at the Money20/20 fintech conference in Amsterdam, Stuart said the bank would remain ringfenced and would preserve what current services it has. He explained, "We're going to protect what we've got; it will have its own board, it will have its own risk policies, we are going to protect what it's got today." The sale of Silicon Valley Bank's London-based subsidiary was prompted by its US parent's collapse, despite the fact that it had a relatively small customer base in the UK. However, many founders and venture capitalists expressed concern that the bank's closure would be detrimental to the tech sector, and the UK government stepped in to broker a deal over the weekend.
There has been some unease that HSBC, a traditional financial establishment, may not be well-suited to help Silicon Valley Bank UK continue to fund tech-oriented startups and small businesses, its speciality. To allay fears, Stuart asserted that the bank would remain dedicated to this mission and, with the addition of HSBC's products and services, customers "will never have to go outside of that network to meet their funding requirements". Since migrating their back-end system and processes fromthe U.S. and rebranding as HSBC Innovation Banking, the team looks to expand to different regions, including the U.S., U.K., Israel, Middle East and Asia. According to Stuart, that's "a really comprehensive plan".
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