US government intervenes to prevent banking crisis

A person walks toward an entrance to Silicon Valley Bank in Santa Clara, California (AP)

The US government took extraordinary steps to stop a potential banking crisis after the historic failure of Silicon Valley Bank, assuring all depositors at the failed institution that they could access all their money quickly, even as another major bank was shut down.

The announcement came amid fears that the factors that caused the Santa Clara, California-based bank to fail could spread.