In his first public remarks since Silicon Valley Financial institution collapsed, triggering widespread trade turmoil, the lender’s former chief govt pointed the finger at just about everyone however himself, casting blame on regulators, the media, his board of administrators and even the financial institution’s personal depositors.

Gregory Becker, who was fired from SVB shortly after its March failure, earned bipartisan derision on Tuesday for his explanations throughout testimony earlier than the Senate Banking Committee. Although Mr. Becker repeatedly stated that SVB’s unwinding was attributable to unforeseeable circumstances, senators took a sharper view of his resolution making.

“It was bone-deep, down-to-the-marrow stupidity,” Senator John Kennedy, Republican of Louisiana, instructed him.

SVB’s failure two months in the past has prompted criticism from all corners. The San Francisco lender, with a excessive focus of shoppers within the know-how and enterprise capital industries, unraveled after a financial institution run that lasted only a few days. In its aftermath, two different lenders, Signature Financial institution and First Republic, additionally collapsed, whereas a number of different midsize banks stay topics of significant concern amongst buyers.

The collapse was precipitated by the financial institution’s resolution to purchase up authorities bonds in an period of low rates of interest, notably throughout the pandemic. These bonds dropped in worth when runaway inflation prompted policymakers to shortly increase rates of interest, making comparatively low-yielding, older bonds much less enticing to buyers and blowing a gap in SVB’s books.

SVB additionally had an unusually excessive proportion of accounts with greater than $250,000 in deposits, the cutoff to be government-insured within the occasion of a failure, making it notably susceptible to a financial institution run — as depositors who had been anxious about their money rushed to withdraw it.

Mr. Becker hadn’t publicly addressed the collapse till Tuesday’s listening to. A 3-decade SVB veteran, he grew to become chief govt in 2011 and oversaw its speedy progress within the following years.

“I labored at a spot I really beloved,” he stated, calling himself “actually sorry” for what occurred.

Mr. Becker stated that on the time of SVB’s failure, he was working with regulators to shore up the financial institution. He stated SVB’s giant, uninsured accounts had been a operate of its concentrate on companies and people whose personal wealth was rising, and that due to their lengthy historical past with the financial institution he couldn’t have imagined they’d all pull en masse.

He blamed the media for elevating questions concerning the agency’s monetary disclosures and authorities officers for permitting inflation to spike to the purpose the place speedy rate of interest will increase had been crucial. SVB’s board, he stated, selected to not hedge, or offset, the financial institution’s bond holdings, a transfer that many analysts have stated would have decreased threat whereas dragging down the lender’s general profitability.

Requested by one senator to establish any of his personal errors, Mr. Becker stated he had thought concerning the query day by day for the previous eight weeks, and couldn’t provide you with a solution.

“It sounds so much like ‘my canine ate my homework,’” stated Senator Sherrod Brown, Democrat of Ohio.

The Federal Reserve, which regulates banks, final month partly blamed itself for ignoring warning indicators at SVB. Its strongest criticism, nonetheless, was aimed on the financial institution’s leaders, together with Mr. Becker, who it stated took untenable monetary dangers to maintain the lender rising shortly.

At a separate listening to Tuesday, Michael Barr, the Fed’s vice chair for supervision, stated that when SVB executives discovered an issue with their stress testing, which simulated the influence of a disaster, they modified the take a look at to make it much less stringent, calling that “the alternative of what you’d need a financial institution to do” when it was going through threat.

Democrats on Capitol Hill have launched laws to extend financial institution regulation, saying that the fast collapse of SVB and others was proof that the trade requires extra oversight. Some Republicans argue that the occasions show the alternative: that laws already on the books usually are not being successfully enforced, and that including extra could be foolhardy.

Most of the questions confronted by Mr. Becker from each side of the political aisle Tuesday concerned his pay, which rose because the financial institution grew. He earned almost $10 million in 2022 and cashed out thousands and thousands in inventory choices within the weeks earlier than the lender’s collapse. He testified that these gross sales had been preplanned and that he wasn’t appearing on any nonpublic data.

“From the standpoint of compensation, that’s decided by the board of administrators,” he stated. “I do know they believed it was truthful, and I imagine they had been correct.”

Mr. Becker and one other former financial institution chief who testified, the Signature Financial institution co-founder Scott Shay, had been requested if they’d give again any of their bonuses, given what occurred to their banks so quickly afterward. Mr. Shay stated he wouldn’t, calling his fallen establishment a “responsibly managed financial institution.”

“Your opinion on what’s a responsibly managed financial institution is now laughable,” Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, instructed him.

On the subject of his bonuses, Mr. Becker stated he was ready to see if regulators would drive him to return them.

“Let’s say it was authorized,” requested Senator J.D. Vance, Republican of Ohio. “Was it moral?”

Mr. Becker declined to reply.

Jeanna Smialek contributed reporting.