HSBC UK chief executive Ian Stuart has said it plans to take Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) “global” following its takeover of the collapsed bank.

The UK government and the Bank of England brokered a rescue deal earlier this year allowing HSBC to acquire SVB’s UK business on 13 March for £1.

Once the sixteenth largest US bank, SVB’s demise makes it the largest failure of a US bank since Washington Mutual collapsed during the global financial crisis of 2008.

On Tuesday, Stuart told delegates at Money 2020 Europe that it is going to keep SVB as a standalone bank and add on HSBC’s product suite and expertise.

“Once [it’s] all integrated, we’ll build out and take a global stance,” he said, adding that the bank will be involved in Series A funding as well as IPOs.

The chief executive revealed that it is aiming to link its commercial bank to the UK, the Middle East and then Asia, adding that HSBC is very good at “linking up SMEs around the world” and in the “commercial sphere”.

At the Amsterdam-based conference, Stuart addressed concerns about HSBC purchasing a bank that “makes riskier” investments than traditional incumbents.

“I don’t think the market should be concerned,” he said. “But we’ve got to prove that.”

He added that he need only look at his balance sheet to see that HSBC regularly takes risks.

The chief executive said that a big challenge for HSBC is proving it is the right bank for SVB and that it can protect what the bank had before it collapsed.

“Time will be the barometer of that,” he continued.

The Bank of England allowed HSBC's purchase of SVB UK earlier this year to stablise the bank and minimise disruption to Britain's technology sector.

The move was welcomed by the tech industry, with many companies fearful of their own collapse following the news of SVP’s demise.

Money 2020 Europe is taking place at the RAI in Amsterdam 6-8 June 2023.

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