The encyclopedia · Finance & Accounting · Financial decision · 2023
After Silicon Valley Bank failed, the Fed lent banks against Treasury bonds at par.
The Bank Term Funding Program let banks pledge Treasuries worth less than they paid, valued at par, so they could borrow instead of selling at wrecked prices.
Federal Reserve Board · Silicon Valley Bank · U.S. Department of the Treasury
the move
Silicon Valley Bank held a long portfolio of Treasuries bought when yields were low. When rates rose, the bonds fell in value, and when depositors fled, the bank faced a choice between selling at a loss and failing.
On March 12, 2023 the Fed created the Bank Term Funding Program. Unlike the discount window, it accepted only high-quality collateral at par, let borrowers choose the maturity up to a year with free prepayment, and priced loans at a market rate. A bank could therefore borrow the full value of its bonds instead of crystallizing a loss, removing the incentive to run.
Valuing the collateral at par removed the reason for a bank to sell its bonds at a loss, and for its depositors to fear the bank would do so, helping to stop the run from spreading to banks holding similar losses.
why it works
- Valuing collateral at par converts an unrealized loss into a loan rather than a forced sale.
- Removing the fire-sale option removes the fear that pushed other banks' depositors to run.
- Borrowers could prepay at no cost, so they used it only while it was cheap.
- The Treasury's Exchange Stabilization Fund backstop absorbed tail risk at no expected cost.
what transfers
If a solvent institution's problem is a mark-to-market paper loss, lend against face value instead of forcing a sale; solvency is decided over maturity, not at one auction.
what came after
The facility kept banks liquid through the March 2023 turmoil; take-up was large but not everyone rushed in, and credit unions also borrowed. As rates fell and the program's rate became attractive, many borrowers prepaid early, and the facility that set the benchmark closed in 2024.
references
- Federal Reserve Board announces it will make available additional funding to eligible depository institutions
- Takeaways from the data release of borrowing from the Fed following Silicon Valley Bank's failure
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