Charles Schwab Corp. tumbled the most ever on an intraday-basis as the online brokerage sought to reassure investors that it has sufficient liquidity to handle any volatility following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.
Shares of Westlake, Texas-based Schwab dropped as much as 23% to $45 after trading was halted for volatility. The stock later pared its decline and was down 17% to $48.93 at 10:09 a.m. in New York.
The firm has a broad base of customers and capital in excess of regulatory requirements, founder and Co-Chairman Charles Schwab and Chief Executive Officer Walt Bettinger said in a statement on its website Monday.
“Schwab’s long-standing reputation as a safe port in a storm remains intact, driven by record-setting business performance, a conservative balance sheet, a strong liquidity position, and a diversified base of 34 million-plus account-holders who invest with Schwab every day,” the executives wrote.
The company, with roughly $7.4 trillion of client assets, said it has access to about $100 billion of cash flow, more than $300 billion of incremental capacity with the Federal Home Loan Bank and other short-term facilities, and that more than 80% of deposits at its bank are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
The shares started to weaken last week as depositors pulled money from SVB Financial Group’s Silicon Valley Bank, leading investors to scrutinize other financial firms. Schwab’s bank sweep accounts have experienced outflows this year as clients seek higher yields.
The outflows were about $5 billion lower in February than in January, and Schwab expects the cash flow movements to abate, Chief Financial Officer Peter Crawford said in a separate statement.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.