High street banks given 24 hours to rescue Silicon Valley Bank UK

Published

3 years ago

March 12, 2023

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Britain’s biggest high street banks have been given a 24-hour deadline to rescue Silicon Valley Bank UK (SVB UK) from collapse as the Bank of England prepares to place it into an insolvency process.

Sky News has learnt that major UK lenders including Barclays and Lloyds Banking Group are among the parties to have been approached by the board of SVB UK over the weekend to see if an emergency takeover deal can be struck.

City sources said that a number of parties, including The Bank of London, were interested in finalising a deal.

A number of the biggest high street banks are expected to examine the prospects for a deal, although the chances of one of them intervening appeared remote.

An executive at one large UK bank said they had been given access to a data room over the weekend.

Rothschild, the investment bank, has been asked to handle the quickfire process with the permission of the Bank of England, according to one source.

Speaking to Sky News’ Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said “there is no systemic risk to our financial system” – but added “there is a serious risk to our technology and life sciences sectors”.

“We are working at pace on a solution we will bring forward very soon plans to make sure people are able to meet their cashflow requirements, pay their staff.”

“But obviously what we want to do is to find a longer-term solution that minimises or even avoids completely losses to some of our most promising companies.”

The Treasury said in a statement on Sunday: “The UK has a world leading tech sector, with a dynamic start-up and scale-up ecosystem.

“The government recognises that, given the importance of Silicon Valley Bank to its customers, its failure could have a significant impact on the liquidity of the tech ecosystem.

“The government is treating this issue as a high priority, with discussions between the governor of the Bank of England, the prime minister and the chancellor taking place over the weekend.”

The implosion of SVB’s US-listed parent company, which has been taken into government control, represents one of the biggest global banking collapses since the financial crisis of 2008.

UK depositors stand to receive up to £85,000 as part of the resolution of the British arm of SVB, sparking fears about the fate of substantial amounts of funding in the start-up community.

On Saturday, dozens of early-stage companies wrote to Mr Hunt, to warn of “an existential threat to the UK tech sector”.

In a letter seen by Sky News, founders including those from Adzuna, Curve and Thriva called on Mr Hunt to intervene.

“The majority of the most exciting and dynamic tech businesses bank with SVB and have no or limited diversity in where their deposits are held,” the draft letter said.

“This weekend the majority of us as tech founders are running numbers to see if we are potentially technically insolvent.

“The impact of this is far greater than our individual businesses.

“The Bank of England’s assessment that SVB going into administration would have limited impact on the UK economy displays a dangerous lack of understanding of the sector and the role it plays in the wider economy, both today and in the future.”

The founders warned Mr Hunt, who will deliver his Budget statement on Wednesday, that the collapse of SVB UK would “cripple the sector and set the ecosystem back 20 years”.

“Many businesses will be sent into involuntary liquidation overnight,” they wrote.

“Many other businesses, both in the tech sector and the wider economy – the customers and suppliers of these businesses – will be negatively impacted by these businesses going bankrupt.”

Interpath Advisory is being lined up to handle the insolvency process in the UK.

UK

World Cup 2026 – who England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland will play

Published

4 hours ago

December 6, 2025

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World Cup 2026 - who England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland will play

Scotland and England now know who they will face in the group stage of the next summer’s world cup.

But the fates of Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and Wales won’t be determined until they compete in pre-tournament play-off matches in March.

England are in Group L along with Croatia, Panama and Ghana. Their first match will be against Croatia, who beat them in the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Scotland’s first match will be against Haiti, in Group C.

Brazil and Morocco are the other Group C teams – both countries were also in the same opening group as Scotland in the 1998 World Cup in France.

Wales have yet to find out if they will qualify as they must face a play-off against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Cardiff, and then either Italy or Northern Ireland, if they are victorious.

If they can overcome these play-off opponents then they will secure their place in Group B along with Canada, Qatar and Switzerland. But Northern Ireland will also be vying and hoping to guarantee their spot in the same group if they can beat Italy and then either Wales or Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Republic of Ireland also need to get through the play-offs first and are paired against the Czech Republic for their semi-final. Should Ireland win that match, they will need to beat either North Macedonia or Denmark to get to the finals where an opening group containing joint hosts Mexico, South Africa and South Korea awaits.

UK

Crafted for one man – this was a World Cup draw like no other

Published

4 hours ago

December 6, 2025

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Crafted for one man - this was a World Cup draw like no other

This was a World Cup draw like no other. Crafted less for the teams but for one man.

The choice of venue. The creation of a new trophy. The closing music act.

Donald Trump was lavished with the adulation he craves by FIFA President Gianni Infantino and feels others unfairly deny him.

Knowing how much being overlooked by the Nobel Committee hurt the US president, there was Mr Infantino with FIFA’s newly-created Peace Prize to hand over. And a medal for Mr Trump to wear.

“This is truly one of the great honours of my life,” he said. “And beyond awards, Gianni and I were discussing this. We saved millions and millions of lives.”

This was all on the stage in front of an audience who turned up to find out who they will be playing at the World Cup.

England handed an undaunting route past Croatia, Panama and Ghana. Scotland paired with newcomers Haiti before tricky reunions from their last men’s World Cup in 1998 against Brazil and Morocco.

But the show before the draw could even begin – presided over by Rio Ferdinand – took almost as long as a football match, at 87 minutes after the noon kick-off was delayed.

There was a walk of self-promotion to complete – “I guess they have to wait” – before taking his seat in the Kennedy Center. Or the Trump Kennedy Center as the president takes to calling the venue picked 1.5 miles from the White House.

“It was falling apart,” he said, delaying the walk into the auditorium. “And now it’s, it’s pretty much back.”

Mr Infantino could only watch on, beaming, at his friend.

“We had a dead country,” Mr Trump went on, “and now we have the hottest country anywhere in the world”.

There was the awkwardness of being reminded, before receiving the peace accolade, about threats to launch military strikes on Venezuela to stop the drugs trade.

“I did settle eight wars, and we have a ninth coming,” he swatted away the question. “Which nobody’s ever done before. But I want to really save lives. I don’t need prizes.”

But FIFA knew how much he wanted more gold for the collection with the prize.

More on this story:
What draw means for England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland

And for all the mockery and disdain targeted at FIFA, how many sports would relish having the US president spend several hours attending a procedural event determining the placing of teams in groups for a tournament?

How many would dish out the same flattery to secure direct lines to the leader of the nation staging their championship?

Many have benefited from Mr Trump’s stardust and swagger being attached to this spectacle.

Even Port Vale’s most famous fan – Robbie Williams – secured a walk-on role, exceeding his profile this side of the Pond.

And the Village People are reaping the rewards of becoming the unlikeliest of Trump hype acts.

The festivities ended with eyes fixed back up to the presidential seating and the YMCA dance being performed.

This was an afternoon that dispelled any pretence that FIFA keeps a distance from politics. It was unapologetically political. But few speak out in the FIFA world as the redistributed wealth keeps rolling back in their direction.

It would be easy to forget this isn’t entirely America’s World Cup. They’re sharing hosting with Canada and Mexico.

And eventually the spotlight was ceded to their leaders – very briefly – as Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney drew out their countries’ names.

But it did live up to FIFA’s mantra that football can unite the world.

The neighbours were brought together here on a snowy day in Washington. And tensions – often stoked by Mr Trump with Canada and Mexico – thawed in the name of football.

UK

Duchess of Sussex ‘reaches out’ to estranged father after reports of leg amputation

Published

4 hours ago

December 6, 2025

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Duchess of Sussex 'reaches out' to estranged father after reports of leg amputation

Meghan Markle has “reached out” to her estranged father after reports he had his leg amputated, her spokesperson has said.

Thomas Markle, 81, reportedly had his leg amputated following surgery in the Philippines, where he moved to this year.

Meghan has been estranged from her father since around the time of her wedding to Prince Harry in May 2018.

Mr Markle, a retired television lighting director and director of photography, made headlines across the globe after he was caught staging paparazzi photographs in the days ahead of the ceremony.

A spokesperson for the Duchess of Sussex said: “I can confirm she has reached out to her father.”

Meghan is said to have previously tried to reach out to him in the past.

Mr Markle has never met his grandchildren Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

At the start of this year, Mr Markle told of how he dreamed of bringing his “whole family together” and wished his daughter “no ill-will”.

Mr Markle revealed that he didn’t “like some of the things” Meghan had done but would “always love her”.

His interview with the Mail on Sunday came amid the duchess’ return to Instagram and the release of a trailer for her lifestyle show on Netflix.

Mr Markle said: “I’m not running away. I am going in search of a more positive life.

“Every day I see something about Meghan. This week it has been the new TV show.”

In his first interview after his daughter’s wedding, Mr Markle said he didn’t attend the big day because he was embarrassed about staging the photos.

“The truth is I couldn’t get over the fact that that had happened. All that stuff was working on me, I had a bit of a heart condition.

“This pushed me a little further to the part where I had heart palpitations. I had to drive at 2am to a hospital. They sent me to another little hospital and then they sent me to a bigger hospital and I had a heart attack.”

A day-and-a-half later he said he felt better and checked himself out against doctors’ wishes in a bid to make it to the wedding, but the heart palpitations returned when he got home, which at the time was in Mexico.

“At that time I started getting chest pains and I said I have to cancel because I didn’t take care of the heart problem before. I had a good friend take me back to a hospital across the border to the States where I was told that my condition was very bad and they had to operate, and I had heart surgery.”