San Francisco’s Anchor Brewing Company (“Anchor”, “Anchor Brewing”), the oldest craft brewer in the United States, has withstood many hardships, and until now, has been a survivor. (Ansari and Otis, The Wall Street Journal). Over the past 127 years, the brewery has survived catastrophic earthquakes, the national prohibition of alcohol, two world wars, and competition from mass-produced beers. (Albeck-Ripka, The New York Times; Anchor Brewing). Despite a history of resilience, Anchor Brewing recently announced ‘last call’ on July 12, 2023. Due to its inability to recover from the consequences of the pandemic and the failure on its parent company, Japan’s Sapporo, to profitably run the craft brewer, Anchor Brewing Company has been forced to close its doors. (Albeck-Ripka, The New York Times).

On Friday, March 10, 2023, Signature Bank lost 20% of its deposits. (Vivian Giang & Mike Dang, The New York Times; Max Reyes, Bloomberg). Two days later, on Sunday, March 12, 2023, Signature Bank failed and went into receivership. (Vivian Giang & Mike Dang, The New York Times). Signature Bank’s failure was unexpected, so much so that it’s only the second time in over a decade that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) created a bridge bank in response to a bank failure. (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation). How and why did Signature Bank fail so quickly? Are more U.S. Banks next? These answers and more, but first, it’s helpful to understand what happens immediately after a bank fails.