Silicon Valley Bank had no official chief risk officer ahead of collapse but employed DEI executive

Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) did not have a chief risk officer for the last eight months of 2022 as it neared collapse, although it had a director of diversity during the same period.

SVB Chief Risk Officer Laura Izurieta entered into an agreement with the bank to move to a non-executive position at the end of April 2022, when she left the company. according to Forbes.

From April 29 until the end of the year, the bank experienced rising interest rates and a slowing economy without a chief risk officer at the helm, until the company announced the hiring of Kim Olson on January 4, 2023.

From April 2022 until the bank collapsed due to a lack of liquidity and was turned over to regulators last week. Working at a Silicon Valley bank Angela Morris Lovelace as Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Officer.

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It is unclear who served as Izurieta in the last eight months of 2022. The Silicon Valley Bank did not respond to Fox Business’s request for comment; Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and Federal Reserve declined to comment.

bloomberg reported this week that the bank’s absence of a chief risk officer for most of 2022 is part of the Federal Reserve’s investigation into the bank’s collapse.

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The chief risk officer usually oversees procedures to limit operational risk exposure, and SVB said during hiring Olson that she will “lead the risk management function and the team, developing and maintaining the SVB risk management framework and the company’s risk management culture.”

Critics on social media, primarily conservatives, criticized the bank for keeping a DEI employee and reportedly focusing on DEI and ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance) policies as the bank collapsed behind the scenes.

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This week, Republican presidential candidate and venture capitalist Vivek Ramaswamy called Silicon Valley Bank “one of the biggest DEI and ESG evangelists.” Utah Republican Senator Mike Lee targeted the company on Twitter, pointing out that ESG and DEI are not enough to “save” the bank.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told Congress Thursday morning that the US banking system remains “healthy” despite the SVB collapse, which was the second-biggest bank failure in US history and the largest since Washington Mutual in 2008.