Signature Bank addresses purported misleading statements by WSJ
Signature Bank has addressed purported false statements by the Wall Street Journal in their Jan. 23 article titled “U.S. Home-Loan banks Help Crypto Lenders Stem Outflows.” The bank claims it’s neither a crypto lender nor suffering from a liquidity crunch due to massive fund outflows.
Signature Bank clarifies false statements made by WSJ
On Jan.23, the Wall Street Journal covered an article with the headline “U.S. Home-Loan Banks Help Crypto Lenders Stem Outflows.” The piece was subsequently reported by crypto.news from a different angle.
Signature Bank, a New York-based full-service commercial bank, posted a press release dedicated to the WSJ’s article. According to it, the headline labeled the business as a cryptocurrency lending bank, which is misleading and inaccurate, as it does not offer such services in the Web3 space:
“The headline falsely refers to Signature Bank as a ‘crypto lender.’ Signature Bank does not lend in the crypto space, nor does it have loans that are backed by crypto assets. Additionally, the bank does not invest, does not hold, and does not custody crypto assets. Signature Bank’s relationships with clients in the crypto space are limited to US dollar-denominated deposits only.”
Signature Bank’s statement
No liquidity crunch
Signature Bank further noted that the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York (FHLB) has been acting as its liquidity partner for the past two decades, adding that the reported loan obtained from the latter is part of its routine operations, not a result of a liquidity crunch stemming from massive crypto funds withdrawals as purported by the WSJ.
“As of year-end, Signature Bank’s FHLB advances represented 10 percent of total assets. Although the bank has sufficient liquidity ($25.3 billion in borrowing capacity as of year-end), it plans to reduce its borrowings with other deposits over time.”
Signature Bank’s statement
As reported by crypto.news last month, Signature Bank revealed plans to significantly slash its crypto-linked deposits by as much as $10 billion due to market uncertainties brought about by the FTX collapse.
Similarly, on Jan. 22, the bank further reduced its crypto exposure by accepting only deposits above $100k from its customers in the space.
