Rescuer signs off on SVB bonuses

Silicon Valley Bank's UK division awarded between 15 million (HK$143.4 million) and 20 million in bonuses days after its rescue by HSBC, Sky News reported.

SVB UK was bought by HSBC for 1 last week. The bonuses were signed off by the bank's new owners and the payouts to staff include its senior executives, said Sky.

The figure paid to SVB UK's chief executive, Erin Platts, is unknown.

"HSBC has honored these previously agreed payments so as to retain talent and demonstrate its confidence in the bank," a spokesperson for HSBC UK told Reuters.

In the United States, parent company SVB Financial Group said it had filed for a court-supervised reorganization under Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings to seek buyers for its assets, days after former unit Silicon Valley Bank was taken over by US regulators. Axios reported that the parent company paid out annual bonuses hours before the bank was seized by the US government.