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Biden Holds Emergency Announcement Tomorrow to Address US Banking Crisis

Leo Wong De Quan — Mon, 13 Mar 2023 02:09:11 +0000

After experiencing both the 2nd and 3rd largest US bank failures in history, the President of the United States, Joe Biden will hold an emergency announcement tomorrow morning (Washington Time) to address the current US banking crisis.

Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank Banking Crisis

As per Reuters, the news comes after the US government announced that it is taking actions to shore up deposits in the country and stem any broader financial fallout from the sudden collapse of both Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.

The past 3 days saw 2 of the largest US bank failures in history – Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. Signature Bank (SBNY) ranks 3rd in the list of largest US bank failures in history with $118 billion USD in assets at the time of failure in 2023, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) ranks 2nd with $209 billion in assets in 2023, and Washington Mutual ranks 1st with $307 billion in assets in 2008.

The White House has issued a press statement stating that over the weekend, the US government has been working diligently with the country’s banking regulators to address problems at Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. And a prompt solution of providing all depositors at these banks back their deposits, both insured and uninsured, will commence on Monday. It was mentioned that the solution also ensures that US taxpayer dollars are not put at risk.

And with all the concerns and complaints of the crisis ongoing, Joe Biden stated that he is “firmly committed to holding those responsible for this mess fully accountable and to continuing our efforts to strengthen oversight and regulation of larger banks so that we are not in this position again.”

On a closing note, the US President will deliver remarks on how the country will maintain a resilient banking system to protect its historic economic recovery tomorrow morning.

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Vox, Roblox, Unity, Roku and More American Corps Affected by SVB Bank Collapse

Leo Wong De Quan — Sat, 11 Mar 2023 23:13:31 +0000

Besides Etsy sellers affected by the sudden shut down of Silicon Valley Bank(SVB), many more American companies and businesses have revealed recently that they were affected by the collapse of SVB. Amongst those banking with SVB, the most notable are Vox Media, Roblox, Roku and Circle.

Affected American businesses by Silicon Valley Bank

Vox Media

Let’s start with the most famous one in tech circles, Vox Media. Vox Media is the parent company of The Verge – the popular online technology news outlet based in the United States, Vox – the viral American news and opinion website, and Polygon – the entertainment news website that covers news from the video game industry, as well as movies, comics, television and books.

The New York Times reported that Vox Media had a substantial amount of its operational cash in Silicon Valley Bank. The Vox Media personnel who was familiar with New York Times also told that Vox Media’s credit cards, which Silicon Valley Bank issued, had stopped working on Friday.

The personnel also claimed the company does not expect any disruption to its business yet, including payroll to its employees. Penske Media, Vox Media’s largest shareholder, said in a statement that it was ready if the company required additional capital but added that it didn’t foresee any issues for the time being.

Roblox

Roblox, the 21st century viral online game platform and game creation system, has also been affected by Silicon Valley Bank’s shutdown by regulators. According to Forbes, Roblox Corporation held 5% of its $3 billion in cash (150 million USD) at the bank. However, according to a filing, the video game company said SVB’s collapse will “have no impact” on its day-to-day operations.

Unity

Unity Technologies, the American video-game technology maker widely known for its video game engine, Unity, disclosed to authorities in the country today that the company held less than 5% of its cash and cash equivalents at Silicon Valley Bank and expects “minimal impact” from the bank’s collapse.

Unity Video Game Engine Logo

However, Unity Technologies has swiftly informed its video game publishers using Unity via email to swiftly update their payout institution from SVB to other banks before March 20, 2023 to avoid delays in payments.

Roku

Roku is an American corporation that offers Roku TV, its hardware digital media players, and a service of releasing streaming media content on its TV players.

Roku showed much concern in its SEC filing. The company reports that 487 million USD of its cash was within SVB, which is 26% of the company’s assets. What is more worrying is that Roku’s deposits with Silicon Valley Bank are largely uninsured. At this time, Roku does not know to what extent the company will be able to recover its cash on deposit at SVB.

Circle

American Cryptocurrency firm Circle, the owner of stablecoin USDC, had a massive 3.3 billion USD invested with Silicon Valley Bank, the company revealed in a tweet. That’s around 8 per cent of the company’s total $40 billion, which is held elsewhere.

Circle, stated in a statement, “Like other customers and depositors who relied on SVB for banking services, Circle joins calls for continuity of this important bank in the U.S. economy and will follow guidance provided by the state and Federal regulators.”

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Etsy Struggles to Pay Sellers On Time on Its Platform After SVB Collapse

Leo Wong De Quan — Sat, 11 Mar 2023 22:00:02 +0000

Etsy, the American e-commerce platform famous for DIY handmade or vintage items and craft supplies, is reportedly struggling to pay its sellers on time after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank(SVB) yesterday.

Sellers on the Etsy platforms reported on Reddit and Twitter today that payments that were due to be credited to their bank accounts yesterday have not been credited by Etsy. In turn, Etsy has sent out an immediate email informing affected sellers, there is a delay in issuing payments to its sellers of the platforms, and the company is currently working with its other payment partners to resolve the matter as soon as possible.

No concrete day or date was mentioned for how long the delay would last, so it is assumed that Etsy sellers’ funds they earned from selling their products on the website have been withheld by Etsy indefinitely. Thus, this is the first major effect of the SVB bank collapse that has impacted the general American consumer market.

Upon receiving the email, sellers were expressing their concern and anger on social media. Some sellers also went out to report the Etsy payment delays to news outlets such as NBC News, claiming that the Etsy delays will have a “catastrophic effect” on their business.

NBC quotes American small business owner, Owen McKinney, who runs Kentucky Country Home laser engraving business, that he relies on Etsy’s deposits to pay for items like shipping costs and materials. Because of the Etsy delay, he had already reached out to one of his suppliers to delay an order for materials that he needed for next week.

As per official info online until 31 December 2022, Etsy had over 100 million items in its marketplace and the online marketplace for handmade and vintage goods connected 7.5 million sellers with 95.1 million buyers. In the fiscal year of 2022, Etsy garnered revenue of US$2.6 billion and registered a net loss of US$694 million, as a blitz scaled tech startup.

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Silicon Valley Bank Liquidated, Biggest Bank Failure Since 2008 Global Financial Crisis

Leo Wong De Quan — Fri, 10 Mar 2023 20:18:35 +0000

US banking regulators on Friday issued an immediate notice on Friday, stating that Silicon Valley Bank, one of the country’s largest banks, has its operations shut down by Californian authorities, and the bank’s assets have been seized and taken over by the country’s Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

Image Source: Reuters

Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) was a commercial bank headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The bank’s customers and depositors are mostly consisted of technology workers in the US, tech startups in Silicon Valley and venture capital-backed companies. The bank used to operate from 29 offices in the United States and from offices in India, the United Kingdom, Israel, Canada, China, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Denmark, and Sweden.

As reported by CNBC, the Silicon Valley Bank bank run is the largest US bank failure since the 2008 global financial crisis that happened more than a decade ago. The interference from regulators comes shortly after the shares of SVB were halted on Friday after tumbling as much as 66% in premarket trading.

FDIC, the organisation tasked to handle the bank’s closure, has stated that it has created the Deposit Insurance National Bank of Santa Clara, which now holds the insured deposits from SVB. The press release also mentions SVB’s official cheques will continue to clear. The main office in Santa Clara and all branches of Silicon Valley Bank will reopen on March 13 Monday and all insured depositors will have full access to their insured deposits no later than Monday morning.

For context, the FDIC’s standard insurance covers up to $250,000 per depositor, per bank, for each account ownership category. It is unclear exactly how larger accounts or credit lines for companies will be impacted by the closure.

The FDIC said it would seek to liquidate SVB’s assets and that future dividend payments may be made to uninsured depositors. Uninsured depositors will be receiving an advanced dividend within the next week, with potential additional dividend payments as the regulator gradually sells SVB’s assets.

CNBC reports that the closure of SVB would impact not only the deposits but also credit facilities and other forms of financing. The FDIC said loan customers of SVB should continue to make their payments as normal.

United States of America Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said during testimony to the House Ways and Means Committee on Friday morning that she was “monitoring very carefully” developments at a few banks in the country. Yellen made her comments before the FDIC took over SVB.

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Volvo to debut Ride Pilot autonomous driving feature in California later this year

Jeet — Thu, 06 Jan 2022 09:17:26 +0000

During CES 2022, Volvo has announced that the company will debut its Ride Pilot, an autonomous driving feature in California by the middle of this year. Once the feature has been approved for use on highways, it will be offered to customers.

The company says that the Ride Pilot feature will be offered to customers as a paid add-on for a new electric SUV that it plans to announce later this year. The feature is also planned to be released in other markets.

For creating Ride Pilot, Volvo worked with Zenseact and LiDAR developer Luminar. The feature is currently being tested in Sweden. Volvo says that Ride Pilot utilizes a Luminar Iris LiDAR sensor complemented by eight cameras, 16 ultrasonic sensors, and five radars to enable the software to judge depth.

The company also says that it will push out continuous over-the-air updates to ensure the feature is safe to use. Martin Kristensson, Head of AD and Mobility at Volvo, said: “When we say self-driving, we mean self-driving. So this will be a feature or function where the car is actually responsible for the driving so you will not need to keep your hands on the steering wheel and you will not need to keep your eyes off the road.”

Ride Pilot is described as a hands-off, eyes-off system, which means that a driver will be free to do other things when the system is activated. This is different from existing self-driving systems which require constant monitoring from the driver.

Apple to face lawsuit that alleges Siri listening to users’ private conversations

Jeet — Fri, 03 Sep 2021 08:20:08 +0000

Almost every major smartphone manufacturer has its own voice assistant. With advancements in technology, companies want to put a smart device in the user’s pocket and home, raising questions about privacy.

In line with that, a lawsuit was filed against Apple alleging that the company’s voice assistant, called Siri, has improperly recorded private conversations. In a ruling related to that case, the judge ruled that the company will have to face the lawsuit, reports Reuters.

Apple had requested to dismiss the lawsuit, and Judge Jeffrey S. White of the federal district court in Oakland did dismiss one piece of the lawsuit that involved users’ economic harm. But he ruled that the plaintiffs, who are trying to make it a class-action lawsuit, could continue pursuing claims about violating user privacy.

The judge said the plaintiffs may pursue claims that Apple violated the federal Wiretap Act and California privacy law and committed a breach of contract. However, he dismissed an unfair competition claim. The case claims that Siri turned on unprompted and recorded conversations that it shouldn’t have and passed the data along to third parties.

One Siri user said his private discussions with his doctor about a “brand name surgical treatment” caused him to receive targeted ads for that treatment, while two others said their discussions about Air Jordan sneakers, Pit Viper sunglasses, and “Olive Garden” caused them to receive ads for those products.

Apple isn’t the only one facing a lawsuit for this, but its competitors Google and Amazon, are also facing allegations of violating user privacy by voice assistants. The companies deny that they are listening to conversations for any purpose other than the intended ones.

Baidu gets permission to test self-drivings cars in California

Jeet — Thu, 28 Jan 2021 05:20:47 +0000

Chinese technology giant Baidu, which is better known for its search engine, has a diversified portfolio of products and services. The company is now moving a step closer with its smart car in the United States.

Baidu has received permission to test its fully autonomous vehicles without a safety driver in California. With this, the company has become the sixth one to receive permission to test driverless cars.

The Chinese company had first received permission to test autonomous vehicles, with safety drivers, in 2016. With this new permission, the company can now test three driverless vehicles in Sunnyvale, located in the San Francisco Bay Area.

It now plans to start testing its autonomous vehicles — Lincoln MKZ and Chrysler Pacifica, day and night within Sunnyvale. However, the company has not yet revealed a timeframe about when it will actually start testing.

In China, Baidu has been testing autonomous vehicles without a safety driver in Beijing and Changsha since last year. Last year, AutoX, another Chinese company, was given permission to start testing driverless cars in California.

Baidu has been focusing a lot on its automotive business. Recently, the company partnered with Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, which is China’s largest private automotive group, to make electric cars in China.