Roth on SVB bank run: Be prepared for potential contagion



Here’s a story that everyone should be concerned about but not many are talking about.

Silicon Valley Bank is no longer. And now it’s spreading to four other banks.

Glenn Beck sat down with Carol Roth to discuss the fall of one of America’s banks, and she has a lot to say about.

Roth begins, “You want to not panic, but be prepared for potential contagion in the financial services arena.”

After all, she continues, this was “the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history, per the Financial Times, after the 2008 collapse of Washington Mutual.”

In addition, Bloomberg has been reporting that north of 93% of SVB’s deposits were not insured, and did not qualify for the FDIC because of the size of the deposit — or other reasons.

While absolutely concerning, Roth says, “This is a really good lesson.”

How? Well, she’s got an answer. Roth says, “If you are in the fortunate position that you have a lot of deposits with any sort of financial institution, make sure they are FDIC insured, or that you have not exceeded the limit, or that you move them around to different accounts with different names on them, so that you are able to have each of those accounts covered.”

Unfortunately, it's too late for those who had their money in Silicon Valley Bank to receive this tip, as many of them are not going to be getting their money back.

Beck asks Roth a question for the less-financially savvy folk: “What does this mean for the average person?”

Her answer is basically to get prepared.

She says, “Go check your accounts and check that FDIC insurance. Or if you’re with a credit union, they have a similar entity that does credit for credit unions and make sure that you have that insurance. ... Hedge your portfolio. Make sure that you’ve got 5 or 10% of your portfolio in alternative hard assets ... things that you can control.”

While all of this is concerning, there is one element that inspires even more fear.

Roth says the “most concerning about the long term is that they’re going to use this as a cover story for a central bank digital currency.”

Beck agrees.

She continues, “This is a very scary situation that can threaten our freedom, and it can threaten your wealth.”


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California man says his $33K deposit temporarily vanished after the BofA branch shut down later that day. He was told, 'There's nothing we can do.'



A California man was thrown into a panic this week after he deposited $33,000 at his local Bank of America branch, only for the branch to shut down hours later before the deposit had a chance to post.

What are the details?

Brian Leonard of Oakland told KGO-TV on Wednesday that he and his wife had been saving for months for a major kitchen remodel, but they almost lost it all due to an abrupt bank closure.

Leonard had visited his local branch to deposit a cashier's check of $33,000 into his account. But just a few hours later, the branch was closed and his money had seemingly disappeared.

When he frantically sought help from bank representatives, they all reportedly kept peddling the same frustrating line: "Sorry, there's nothing we can do."

"I'm starting to think I may not see the money ever," Leonard said to the news outlet. "You're telling me that 'Bank of America lost $33,000 of my money, and you're telling me right here to my face, 'There's nothing you can do?' 'That's right, sir.'"

"Nobody said, 'We'll find out where the money is, we'll make good on it, we'll take care of it,'" Leonard recalled.

What happened?

According to KGO, Leonard needed to pay a contractor for the kitchen remodel, so he set off to transfer the large sum of money from his Wells Fargo account to his account with Bank of America. He went to his local branch with a cashier's check in hand, in hopes that it would clear right away.

"I deposited the cashier's check ... she said it would post that afternoon or next morning at the latest," Leonard said.

But when he checked his account the next day, there was no record of the deposit. He called Bank of America to check in on the matter, and they essentially told him it was as if the deposit never happened.

"The woman said that there was no record of the transaction. So as far as she was concerned, no transaction happened," he said.

So he got in his car and drove to the branch to speak to a teller face to face. To his surprise, when he arrived, he found out that the branch had been shut down just hours after he deposited the check.

What else?

Leonard then immediately visited two more branches; however, the second one was also shut down, and at the third, the manager was either unable or unwilling to help.

Once again, Leonard was told "there's no record of the transaction," so there was "nothing" that could be done, even after he reportedly presented his cashier's check and deposit receipt.

Desperate, he eventually decided to contact Bank of America's CEO, the federal government, and the local news. Finally, things started going his way.

A bank representative informed him that a delay may have resulted due to a problem with the check itself. They said the cashier's check was made out to Bank of America, not Leonard. The bank, however, reportedly did not tell him why he was unable to receive help with the matter until then.

Nevertheless, it appeared things would be getting resolved in short order.

"Within the course of a couple of hours, Bank of America contacted me, they said they're gonna give me $33,000. 7 On Your Side, man, you guys were on it," Leonard said.

Anything else?

A Bank of America representative confirmed the incident to Newsweek but said the deposit was not lost and that the bank closure was only temporary — something that has occurred regularly throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We have resolved the issue with our client's check deposit," a spokesperson told the outlet. "The deposit was not lost. This was a cashier's check that was made out to Bank of America instead of the client, which caused a delay in the processing of the transaction. We've apologized to our client for the inconvenience and waived any related fees."

"This story is a great reminder: keep your receipts!" KGO-TV reported.