Well, that escalated quickly.

It’s hard to believe that just a week ago we were talking about crypto, ESG, fintech and other ongoing bank regulatory and financial services topics. Then came the sudden, lightning-quick collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, followed over the weekend by Signature Bank, and everything turned upside down.

In this past week, we talked with clients, regulators, lawyers at other firms and so many more participants in the financial services industry, and also amongst ourselves − all in an attempt to fully comprehend the impact of these developments and to provide the best possible guidance directly to our clients and in our thought leadership. 

The SVB and Signature bridge banks are open, and transactions are moving forward. We are all following the news to try to prognosticate what the near- and longer-term future will hold − but crystal balls always tend to be a bit foggy. 

So we’ll continue to tell you everything we know and will continue to update our “Financial Markets Resource Center” over the coming days and weeks (and months?). One resource in the Center worth highlighting, if you haven’t seen it already, is our interdisciplinary “Quick Take” produced on Monday.  

And, oh, by the way, life goes on in the financial services world, and today Mercedes Tunstall looks at the coming FedNow instant payment service and Alix Prentice covers a couple of noteworthy UK developments.

As always, and perhaps now more than in recent weeks, just drop me a line here if there’s anything on your mind.   

Daniel Meade 
Partner and Editor, Cabinet News and Views