First Republic Bank. Image source: GETTY IMAGES.
Customers of First Republic Bank withdrew more than $100 billion (£80 billion) from their accounts in the first three months of the year, owing to concerns about the health of the global financial system.
Since the end of December, First Republic Bank has recorded a huge drop in deposits of more than 40%.
This comes on the heels of Credit Suisse’s recent disclosure regarding the scope of the bank run that led to its state-backed bailout last month.
A string of bank failures has raised concerns about a future banking crisis.
Neal Holland, First Republic’s Chief Financial Officer, indicated that the bank had an unprecedented outflow of deposits in March, coinciding with the liquidation of many institutions.
The bank is currently concentrating on reforming its balance sheet and cutting expenses and short-term borrowings.
First Republic has also stated its plan to cut expenditures by 20% to 25% of its personnel in the next months.
The announcement led the bank’s shares to plunge by more than 20% in after-hours trading in New York.
A consortium of large US banks had previously invested $30 billion in First Republic, which was thought vulnerable to failure.
Regulators in the United States applauded the decision, and the banks involved, including JP Morgan and Citigroup, indicated that it demonstrated their trust in the bank.
Last month, Silicon Valley Bank, the country’s 16th largest lender, went bankrupt, marking the greatest bank failure in the United States since 2008.
Signature Bank in New York folded two days later.
To prevent future bank deposit runs, officials intervened to guarantee deposits over the usual limits.
Credit Suisse, a European banking behemoth, has revealed a loss of 61.2 billion Swiss francs ($69 billion; £55.2 billion) in the first quarter of the year.
This information was included in the bank’s anticipated last financial results before its forced sale to rival UBS.
To battle inflation, central banks around the world, including the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England, have hiked interest rates dramatically.
However, this has had a negative impact on the value of large bond portfolios acquired by banks at lower interest rates.
The drop in the value of these portfolios played a role in Silicon Valley Bank’s demise, and there are concerns about the health of other financial institutions.