US looks to offload $13B of mortgage bonds seized from SVB, Signature

A customer leaves after speaking with FDIC representatives inside of the Silicon Valley Bank headquarters in Santa Clara, California, U.S., March 13, 2023. REUTERS/Brittany Hosea-Small

The U.S. government is looking to offload nearly $13 billion of mortgage bonds it amassed from Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank following the collapse of the lenders, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing people with knowledge of the transactions.

The bonds were part of the $114 billion of assets that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) picked up when it took over SVB and Signature earlier this year, according to the report, which added the bonds were backed by long-term, low-rate loans made primarily to developers building affordable apartments.

The FDIC has also discussed alternatives to cutting the prices on the bonds, including potentially repackaging the debt into new securities, the report said.

The FDIC in April retained BlackRock unit Financial Market Advisory to sell the securities portfolios of the two failed lenders. BlackRock later that month kicked off a sale process for the assets, Bloomberg had reported.

BlackRock had preliminary discussions with investors about the mortgage bonds, but they proved hard to sell, the Bloomberg report said on Tuesday.

The FDIC and BlackRock did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.