First Republic Bank news: Shares fall 17% following second credit rating downgrade

Shares of First Republic Bank have dropped by more than 17% in premarket trading on Monday morning following news that S&P Global Inc has issued its second credit downgrade for the embattled bank within a week.

The decline on Monday has capped off an over 80% drop in the past month after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank caused panic in the banking sector and spooked investors. The future for stocks, in general, saw a decline with Dow Jones Industrial Average futures down approximately 0.17%, S&P 500 futures 0.15%, and Nasdaq-100 futures 0.15% by around 8 a.m.

FIRST REPUBLIC LIKELY TO WEATHER SECOND S&P DOWNGRADE WITHIN A WEEK: REPORT

On Sunday, S&P downgraded First Republic Bank’s credit rating to B+ from BB+, despite a $30 billion infusion from 11 banks announced last week. Shares of the bank were hovering around $128.89 a month ago but have plunged to about $23. S&P’s ratings downgrade came after the bank’s rating was already reduced from A- last week.

“The deposit infusion from 11 U.S. banks, the company’s disclosure that borrowings from the Fed range from $20 billion to $109 billion and borrowings from the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) increased by $10 billion, and the suspension of its common stock dividend collectively lead us to the view that the bank was likely under high liquidity stress with substantial deposit outflows over the past week,” said S&P on Sunday.

Last week a group of banks, including Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, BNY Mellon, PNC Bank, State Street, Truist Bank, and U.S. Bank, announced a $30 billion injection for First Republic Bank. Federal officials helped bring on the injection after the company’s shares evaporated by 71% last week. Established in 1985, First Republic is the 14th-largest bank in the country.

Approximately two-thirds of First Republic’s deposits were uninsured, per CNN. Deposits of up to $250,000 are insured under the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s policy. Interestingly, the government gave SVB depositors assurance that they would have access to their money despite going over that figure. However, it remains unknown if the FDIC would extend that assurance to First Republic’s deposits.

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Problems affecting Swiss bank Credit Suisse have also affected the market. UBS Financial Services announced on Sunday its plans to purchase the bank for $3.2 billion.

Despite the market turmoil, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has sought to ease panic by asserting that the financial system “remains sound, and that Americans can feel confident that their deposits will be there when they need them.”