HSBC hires Silicon Valley Bank bankers to focus on tech, healthcare

By Saeed Azhar

NEW YORK (Reuters) -HSBC Holdings plc's U.S. unit has hired dozens of Silicon Valley Bank bankers led by David Sabow, who most recently led the technology and healthcare banking segment for the California-based bank that collapsed last month.

HSBC USA said in a statement the hiring will help the bank establish a dedicated banking practice focused on serving companies in technology and healthcare, as well as investors who support them.

HSBC has initially assembled a team of more than 40 bankers in the San Francisco Bay Area, Boston and New York City as part of this initiative, it said.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) took over Silicon Valley Bank on March 10 after depositors rushed to pull out their money in a bank run that also brought down Signature Bank and wiped out more than half the market value of several other U.S. regional lenders.

U.S. regulators last month decided to backstop a deal for regional lender First Citizens BancShares to acquire failed Silicon Valley Bank, triggering an estimated $20 billion hit to a government-run insurance fund.

HSBC said other hires included Sunita Patel, who will oversee investor coverage and business development for technology and healthcare market, Katherine Andersen who will lead life sciences and healthcare, and Melissa Stepanis, who will oversee technology.

HSBC's new banking practice will sit within the bank's US commercial banking business, it said.

HSBC last month bought the UK arm of Silicon Valley Bank for a symbolic one pound, rescuing a key lender for technology start-ups in Britain.

(Reporting by Saeed Azhar, Editing by Nick Zieminski)