What would happen to your company if its primary bank disappeared overnight?

In this episode of Corporate Finance Explained, we break down the hidden architecture of corporate banking relationships, treasury management, and liquidity strategy through the lens of one of the most important financial events of recent years: the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in March 2023.

For many companies, banking feels invisible during stable markets. Payroll clears, vendors get paid, credit remains available, and treasury operations quietly function in the background. But when a banking institution fails, companies suddenly discover that access to liquidity is not guaranteed. It is engineered through years of strategic banking relationships, diversification, and risk management.

We explore how firms like Roku, Roblox, Etsy, and Circle were exposed to SVB’s collapse, and why counterparty concentration risk became a matter of corporate survival almost overnight.