Starling releases preliminary report on SVB failure and 2023 banking stress

Starling Advisory Group released a preliminary report today on the 2023 financial sector turmoil and Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse, saying the inquiry is still ongoing. The report is meant to help clarify what went wrong, what supervisors missed, and what the findings could mean for future bank oversight.

Why it matters: - The preliminary report could reshape the public record on the 2023 banking stress events and Silicon Valley Bank’s failure. - Starling says the findings matter for future supervision, risk governance and institutional resilience. - The report also challenges early explanations that linked the bank run primarily to social media.

What happened: - Starling Advisory Group released a Preliminary Report today on the 2023 financial sector turmoil and the failure of Silicon Valley Bank. - The Federal Reserve Board’s Supervision & Regulation Division retained Starling to conduct an independent inquiry. - The report is the first in a series, and Starling’s Probative Inquiry is continuing. - Starling released the report as a Public Exposure Draft to invite review, challenge and public comment.

The details: - The report is nearly 400 pages long. - It includes seven preliminary findings. - The findings cover vulnerabilities at SVB that Fed supervisors knew, or should have known, about. - The report also examines claims that social media fueled the run on the bank. - Starling says its review was deliberately structured to be independent from the Federal Reserve and other government agencies. - Starling said the initial findings of fact are preliminary. - The company says interested readers can register with Starling Insights to obtain free access to the report. - Starling shared its LinkedIn page.

Between the lines: - The report appears aimed at pushing back on earlier postmortem accounts of the crisis. - Starling CEO Stephen Scott said it remains unclear why SVB failed and why supervisors did not intervene earlier. - Scott said the inquiry challenges an often unsubstantiated causal narrative established by early studies. - Scott also said the report will help the public better understand the spring 2023 turmoil. - The emphasis on responsibility, authority and accountability suggests the inquiry is focusing on supervisory process failures, not just bank-specific risk.

What's next: - Starling said public feedback will inform the ongoing inquiry and shape future reports. - The next reports will build on the preliminary findings as the investigation continues. - Starling said the current release is not the final word on the 2023 events.