Tens Of Thousands Of UK Jobs Put At Risk By Collapse Of US Bank

Treasury officials were scrambling to protect UK firms from the failure of Silicon Valley Bank before the markets opened this morning.

- Sam Lister and Martyn Brown

TENS of thousands of British tech jobs could be lost after a bank in California folded.

Around 200 companies that had their banking tied up with SVB face being left unable to pay staff or suppliers.

Last night, it was reported that OakNorth Bank, which was founded by prominent Conservative party donor Rishi Khosla, was in talks to buy the British operations of SVB.

HSBC Holdings also emerged as in the running for SVB UK as the Government and regulators looked to avert the lender's insolvency.

JP Morgan, the American banking giant, has also been asked to consider a bid.

Any formal offers are expected to be subject to due diligence potentially lasting days, said city sources.