HSBC bought Silicon Valley Bank UK in record time — here's how events unfolded

HSBC came to the rescue of Silicon Valley Bank UK successful a important woody for the full banking sector. But if you had told its CEO — conscionable a fewer days beforehand — that this would beryllium happening, helium would not person believed you.

"I was going astir my mean concern connected Friday. If idiosyncratic had said to maine [that] we would beryllium acquiring different slope wrong 2 oregon 3 days, I wouldn't person believed it," Ian Stuart, CEO of HSBC UK Bank, told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" Thursday.

It was each precise quick. Silicon Valley Bank — a U.S. lender with clients mostly successful the tech and health-care startup satellite — was deemed insolvent by American regulators connected Friday. That raised alarm bells crossed the pond, wherever SVB had a subsidiary.

Consequently, the Bank of England announced Friday that, "absent immoderate meaningful further information," it would beryllium placing Silicon Valley Bank UK into an insolvency procedure. 

"Woke up connected Saturday morning, saw the announcement and by conscionable aft 10:30 a.m. we were successful interaction with the regulator offering our help, myself and our planetary CEO Noel Quinn some successful contact. And it went a small spot quiet, I deliberation astatine that constituent we were conscionable trying to connection immoderate assistance we could," Stuart said.

More than 200 companies — depositors with SVB UK — wrote Saturday to the U.K.'s Treasury asking for help. They said that immoderate would not beryllium capable to comply with payroll deadlines without accessing their deposits with SVB UK.

"We got entree to the information slope aboriginal connected Sunday. We had astir 5 hours to bash owed diligence and by astir 6pm connected Sunday — and we had tons of meetings passim the time — arsenic acold arsenic we were acrophobic it was a competitory situation, and I tin honestly archer that adjacent up to astir 10, 11 p.m. astatine night, I inactive thought it was a competitory concern and astir astir that time, we were successful truly adjacent dialog with the regulator."

Other fiscal institutions were besides successful the premix and assessing the anticipation of buying SVB UK, including OakNorth Bank, The Bank of London and Abu Dhabi concern steadfast Royal Group.

"It wasn't until ... aboriginal hours of Monday greeting that we thought, 'right, I deliberation we person got a bank,' and we started preparing comms astatine that point," Stuart said.

HSBC UK announced astatine 7 a.m. London clip Monday that it was buying Silicon Valley Bank UK for £1 ($1.21). The woody protected £6.7 cardinal successful deposits.

"We person a U.K. slope that's good run, precise bully people, bully prime products and, yes, 5 hours isn't a batch of clip to bash owed diligence, but what we decided was, 'Are determination immoderate achromatic holes? No, not that we could see,'" Stuart said.

"Was it worthy — your words, not excavation — a gamble. We thought it was a sensible approach, we didn't inquire for authorities support, we didn't inquire for thing retired of the ordinary," helium said, adding that the woody volition assistance HSBC accelerate its strategical program by 2 oregon 3 years.

"It's a fantastic opportunity," helium said.