Australian and New Zealand tech firms said on Monday they did not have material exposure to Silicon Valley Bank following the failure of the U.S. startup-focused lender SVB Financial Group last week, amid fears of a contagion in Asia.
Friday’s failure of SVB Financial Group, which focuses on technology startups, was the biggest bank collapse in the United States since the 2008 financial crisis.
Australia’s Nitro Software said that about $12.18 million of the company’s global cash reserves were held on deposit at SVB.
Nitro said the SVB development does not impact private equity firm Potentia Capital’s A$532.3 million ($352.49 million) takeover offer for the software maker.
U.S.-based Sezzle said the buy now, pay later firm’s relationship with SVB is limited to funds on deposit which are not material to its ongoing business.
Meanwhile, Siteminder said exposure to SVB and its United Kingdom unit SVB UK consisted of up to A$10 million cash holdings and an undrawn $20 million revolving credit facility.
The ‘Big Four’ banks in Australian did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
“The SVB case in the U.S. has been brought about by a particular set of factors, including a high exposure to the tech industry. Australia’s banks in contrast are strong and subject to a different set of regulatory frameworks,” a spokesperson for the Australian Banking Association said.
In New Zealand, cloud-based accounting software company Xero reiterated a similar update, confirming that it does not have a material exposure to SVB.
The U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve announced a range of measures on Sunday to stabilise the banking system and said depositors at SVB would have access to their deposits on Monday.
($1 = 1.5101 Australian dollars)
