The Blubber

Per Business Insider

Shark Tank investor Kevin O'Leary has spoken up about the recent situation regarding the collapse of regional banks. He said that their demise has begun while warning of a potential "oligopoly" of Fed-backed large institutions.

O'Leary: "I say this is the beginning of the demise of small banks, for sure. And that we're going to end up with an oligopoly of very large institutions with an imputed concept that they're backed by the federal government. Not guaranteed, imputed,"

The statements from the Shark Tank investor come despite intervention from the federal government in trying to protect "uninsured depositors at collapsing lenders." He also clarified that he was not an advocate of seeing the collapse of regional banks but was rather just pointing out his thoughts.

He also pointed out that the risk should be localized should there still be a demand for regional banks.

O'Leary: "Would you personally guarantee the bank in New Jersey or New York? Would you personally go on the hook because you want to have a regional bank in these states?"

The Shark Tank investor also said he was unwilling to pay for "every idiot banker's mistake." He referred to himself as a taxpayer, saying there were "many idiot bankers."

O'Leary also said that Biden "has essentially nationalized the industry," saying he would never buy another bank stock again. He said that zero risk comes with consequences while sharing the risks for shareholders in the long term.

Since O'Leary is a known investor in startups via Shark Tank, he advised startup CEOs to limit their bank deposits. He warned that CEOs shouldn't put over 20% of their liquid assets in a single institution.

O'Leary's deduction of the failure of Silicon Valley Bank was pointing towards management and an "incompetent board," instead of the problem being systematic.

See flow at unusualwhales.com/flow.

Other News:

• Kevin O'Leary has said he will never buy a bank stock again as Biden "has essentially nationalized the industry"
• Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary advises startup CEOs to limit bank deposits

Resources:

Business Insider