SOME Chinese firms that have business ties with Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) said that they have so far seen limited impact from the U.S. bank’s dramatic bankruptcy.

More than a dozen Hong Kong-listed companies have stepped forward to say they had little or no exposure to SVB,the 16th-largest bank in the United States.

Startup-focussed SVB collapsed Friday in the largest bank failure since the 2008 financial crisis.

U.S. officials have stepped in to stem financial fallout, saying that all customers will have access to their deposits starting today.

Chinese firms are making efforts to reassure clients and investors as the collapse of the U.S. bank could have a negative psychological impact on China’s markets, since many tech startups, especially those with dollar funding, have opened U.S. accounts at SVB.

On Saturday, SVB’s Chinese joint venture with Shanghai Pudong Development Bank said it has a sound corporate structure and an independently operated balance sheet.

Firms scrambled through Sunday to yesterday to release statements on the extent of their exposure or distance themselves from the bank.

Everest Medicines, a biopharmaceutical firm based in eastern China’s Zhejiang, said Sunday that SVB’s collapse has had a limited impact on its business, stressing that the company’s deposits at the bank are far lower than 1% of its total cash volume.

Drug developer Beigene Ltd. said it has uninsured cash deposits held at the U.S. bank representing 3.9% of its last reported total cash and cash equivalents. It also said it did not expect the developments to impact its operations.

Mobile advertising platform Mobvista Inc. said it has deposit accounts with the bank with a balance of US$430,000 and the accounts represent a minimal portion of cash and cash equivalents.

Six Hong Kong-listed companies, mostly mainland pharmaceutical firms, also over the weekend disclosed cash deposits at Silicon Valley Bank.

Brii Biosciences Ltd. revealed it had the highest percentage of cash and bank balances at SVB, at less than 9%. It did not provide a monetary figure for the deposits.

“Notwithstanding the closure of SVB, the existing cash and bank balances of the company continue to be sufficient to meet its working capital, capital expenditures and material cash requirements from known contractual obligations for the next three years,” Brii Biosciences said.

Broncus Holding Corp. said it held US$11.8 million at SVB, representing around 6.5% of its total cash.

CStone Pharmaceuticals, Noah Holdings Private Wealth and Asset Management Ltd. and Jacobio Pharmaceuticals Group Co. said in different statements they had less than 0.2-0.5% of their total cash at SVB.

CANbridge Pharmaceuticals Inc. said the amount of cash deposited with SVB is “immaterial and is generally within the amount guaranteed by the FDIC [U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.] accordingly”, without giving any figures.

Ascentage Pharma Group International said in a filing Sunday it had not had any business dealings with SVB, while tycoon Pan Shiyi, co-founder and former chairman of commercial property developer SOHO China, said on his Weibo account that he had never opened an account or deposited at the bank.

SVB’s fall is seen as the largest failure of a U.S. bank since the financial crisis in 2008. The fallout from the collapse of the bank is starting to spread across the world.

“SVB’s bankruptcy shows that the U.S. monetary policy is a total failure. The U.S. Fed’s faster-than-expected tightening created turmoil in the global financial system and eventually harmed its own banking system,” the Global Times yesterday quoted Li Yong, deputy chairman of the Expert Committee of the China Association of International Trade,as saying. (SD-Agencies)