US Federal Reserve watchdog launches probe of SVB supervision

(Reuters) -The U.S. Federal Reserve’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) has launched an independent review of the failure of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), an OIG spokesperson said on Tuesday.

The review, which was launched on March 14, will assess the board’s and the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco’s supervision of the failed lender, the spokesperson told Reuters in a statement.

The independent oversight authority plans to complete its investigation within six months, the spokesperson added.

The probe was reported earlier by Bloomberg News.

SVB, whose collapse triggered a crisis of confidence in the banking sector, was bought by First Citizens BancShares Inc on Monday, after the latter bought all of SVB’s loans and deposits from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC).