First Republic Bank and SVB Made the Same Flawed Bet. They’re Paying Now.

One of the many mysteries surrounding the recent banking crisis is that two of the institutions caught up in the mess, Silicon Valley Bank and

First Republic Bank

are located in the San Francisco Bay Area—the former based in Santa Clara at the south end of Silicon Valley and the latter in the city itself, some 47 miles to the north.

While there may not be any direct connections between these two banks—and to be clear, as of this writing, Silicon Valley Bank failed and First Republic (ticker: FRC) did not—there are some intriguing similarities, and in the end, perhaps a flawed common denominator when it comes to understanding and managing their customers.