Since the beginning of March, the crisis has hit four regional banks in the United States, three of which were later acquired by other institutions with the help of the authorities.
With regard to two banks, “Silicon Valley” and “Signature”, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation has taken a controversial decision to support uninsured deposits in them to ward off infection that could affect other banks.
By law, the foundation only secures up to a $250,000 deposit in eligible banks.
Despite this unusual step, the concern remained for deposit holders, as Buffett said during the annual meeting of shareholders of his “Berkshire Hathaway” group.
“This should not happen. The deal was very poor,” said the billionaire, who continues to run his group despite being 92 years old.
“He’s been weak by politicians who sometimes have an interest in him being, and weak by government agencies. And I say weak by the press,” he added.
He explained that what happened with “Silicon Valley” showed a government takeover that was followed by an expanded guarantee of deposits, but people were still “confused”.
Although the emergency takeover of First Republic by JPMorgan Chase began Monday and seemed to have eased anxiety about the crisis, it was a turbulent week.
Many medium-sized banks on Wall Street were hit by tremors, especially Pac-West, whose stock fell by 68 percent before recovering by 82 percent in Friday trading.
On Saturday, Berkshire Hathaway Group announced huge profits of $35.5 billion in the first quarter, due to the strong performance of financial markets.
Buffett transformed Berkshire Hathaway from a small textile company he bought in the mid-1960s into a giant conglomerate now valued at more than $700 billion.
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