Collapse
During the March 2023 United States bank failures, Fitch Ratings and S&P Global Ratings downgraded First Republic's credit rating, citing "a high proportion of uninsured deposits" from wealthy customers who are more likely to move their money elsewhere and a loan-to-deposit ratio of 111%, meaning that it had lent out more money than it had in deposits from customers.[24] To alleviate concerns of a possible bank run and support any withdrawals of deposits, on March 16, 2023, eleven American banks including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, and Truist Financial deposited $30 billion with First Republic.[25][26][27] Despite the deposits, shares of the company declined.[28]
On March 19, S&P downgraded the bank's credit rating further into junk by three grades saying that it "may not solve the substantial business, liquidity, funding, and profitability challenges that we believe the bank is now likely facing."[29] On that day, the bank's capital shortfall was $13.5 billion, which The Wall Street Journal compared to the liquidity crisis of the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) being a factor in its collapse.[30] In its first quarterly earnings release since the crisis, the bank noted that its customers withdrew $104.5 billion in deposits during the turmoil, but noted that outflows had stabilized in April.[31][32] The significance of those outflows was explained by the number of high-net-worth clients at the bank, whose assets exceeding $250,000 would not have been protected by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).[33] First Republic noted it was "weighing strategic options" and aiming to reduce the size of its balance sheet.[31]
On April 28, the bank announced plans to begin selling its bonds and securities at a loss to raise equity and also begin laying off people.[35] Multiple advisor teams began to leave the bank as well.[36] On that day, it was announced that the FDIC was considering seizing the bank, causing its stock price to plunge another 43% to $3.50.[35][37] After the price fell another 42% in after-hours trading, the FDIC confirmed its imminent takeover of the bank.[38][39][40] The next day, the FDIC approached various banks, including JPMorgan Chase, PNC
