As panic spreads about a possible banking sector collapse in the United States, people have rushed to deposit their money with “too big to fail” lenders such as Bank of America, which has received deposits totaling over $15 billion.
People with knowledge of the situation told Bloomberg News that $15 billion was involved.
The exact numbers have not been made public, but other major banks have also seen significant increases in deposits, including JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo.
On Monday, Citizens Bank announced that it “has seen higher than normal interest from prospective new customers over the past few days.” That news was first reported by Bloomberg.
Following last week’s rapid collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, the nation’s second-largest, there has been a mass exodus to other financial behemoths like Bank of America.
In an effort to stem the tide of failing regional banks, regulators over the weekend closed down Signature Bank.
Concerned onlookers watched as Credit Suisse stock plummeted to near-record lows on Wednesday after the company’s largest stakeholder announced he would not increase his investment in the Swiss banking giant.
Credit Suisse shares, which have lost roughly a third of their value in just three months, fell 21% to $1.99 in premarket trading on Wednesday.
The problems at Credit Suisse were weighing down the stock market.
Before Wednesday’s opening bell, the Dow futures were down nearly 600 points, while the S&P 500 futures were down about 1.8%.
Even before Wall Street opened on Wednesday, Nasdaq futures were down more than 1.4%.
On Wednesday, the banking industry as a whole looks like it will take a hit.
How the stocks performed?
Bank of America’s stock fell 2.9%, while Morgan Stanley’s fell 3.2%. Before the market opened, Wells Fargo was down by 4.2%.
The shares of regional banks such as PacWest Bancorp (down 7.7%), Comerica (down 3.4%), KeyCorp (down 1.4%), Regions Financial (down 4.2%), and Zions Bancorp (down 5.5%) were also trading lower before the opening bell on Wednesday.
