Another 40 employees in Israel are being laid off, courtesy of the failed Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) for which they work.
The Israeli branch of the failed bank – the second largest bank collapse in the history of the United States – closed this weekend and ceased operations, according to Israel’s Channel 12 tech12 news team.
The employees at the branch stopped their work on Sunday morning after receiving an email saying a limited number from their ranks will be able to stay – and even then, only for up to 45 days to do the mop up.
Those employees, who did not answer their office or personal phones, continued to work through the weekend in an attempt to respond to their many high-tech clients – but the branch was closed.
The CEO of the SVB Israel branch, David Cohen, posted a farewell message Saturday on LinkedIn, thanking all the staff members for their work and summarizing his 12 years at the bank.
“With amazing teamwork & hunger, we managed to convince the Israeli Innovation ecosystem to trust us and the SVB platform as it’s true long-term partner,” Cohen wrote.
“It took us years of hard work to add client after client and to win loan after loan to position SVB as the “default” partner for our friends in the VC industry and to its portfolio companies.
“The 40 hours that created the disaster of wiping SVB from earth are shocking and sad to me personally, to my team that I love & respect so much, to my colleagues across the globe and from the endless support messages I receive – to the entire industry.”
Cohen also thanked “all of our clients and friends” who called or texted me and his team “to provide us their support in such a complex time.”
He added that he is still hoping SVB will “continue to be a major part of the innovation ecosystem under new ownership,” and said he looks forward to be part of that in Israel.
Cohen told Channel 12 that he is “not interested in talking” when contacted for comment on the situation.
SVB Attorney Adv. Yoram Rabad said only that the Israeli branch is not an independent body; thus it was forced to close when the bank was shut down by the US government.
At present, no one has access to their funds. US regulators are hoping to make at least a portion of clients’ uninsured deposits available to them by Monday, possibly between 30 to 50 percent, according to multiple reports. That will come in addition to the insured portion of their deposits.
More cash is expected to follow as the assets of the bank are sold. Up to $250,000 of any deposit is insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Company (FDIC).
