SVB CEO sold millions in stock before collapse. Politicians want to claw it back.

Mere hours before the federal government seized it, Silicon Valley Bank paid out employee bonuses. In response, a bipartisan group of lawmakers have introduced legislation to recoup funds from bank executives in the event of future failures.

While the timing appeared suspicious, the SVB bonuses were a part of employees’ annual payout and planned in advance of the bank’s collapse. But paired with CEO Greg Becker cashing out $3.6 million in shares of SVB less than two weeks prior to the failure, these actions caught the attention of Washington politicians.

“It’s outrageous that these people took bonuses and sold stock in the days leading up to the bank’s failure,” Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., said during a banking committee hearing featuring regulators on March 28. “We should hold these executives accountable for the fullest extent of the law and claw back those bonuses and stock sales.”

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