Canada’s banking regulator has moved to wind up Silicon Valley Bank’s Canadian branch as one of the largest global tech financers struggles to find a buyer after its failure roiled markets and stoked concern around the stability of regional banks.
The winding up order – a court order that forces an insolvent company into liquidation – was approved on Wednesday morning, according to court documents. Canada’s banking regulator said Sunday that it had taken control of SVB Canada and that it planned to apply for a court order to wind up SVB’s Canadian operations – which also allows the liquidator to launch an auction to seek out bidders for the domestic operations.
SVB is a small lender in Canada. The tech financer had US$692-million in assets and US$349-million in outstanding loans in Canada as of December, according to OSFI filings.