By Scott Kanowsky
Investing.com -- European banking stocks dropped on Monday after the collapse of SVB Financial Group (NASDAQ:SIVB) caused concerns about the health of the U.S. financial system.
In early morning trading, shares in some of the region's biggest lenders, such as Banco Santander (BME:SAN), Commerzbank (ETR:CBKG), and UniCredit (BIT:CRDI), were near the bottom of the pan-European Stoxx 600.
Europe's Stoxx 600 Banks also dropped by about 1%, adding on to losses last week that stemmed from the turmoil surrounding SVB.
With $212 billion in assets, SVB was the second biggest lender to fail in U.S. history.
Elsewhere on Monday, HSBC agreed with the Bank of England to buy the U.K. operations of SVB. In a joint statement with the Treasury, the Bank said it could confirm that "all depositors' money with SVBUK is safe and secure as a result of this transaction" and that "all services will continue to operate as normal and customers should not notice any changes." London-listed shares in HSBC (LON:HSBA) dipped slightly into the red in the wake of the announcement.
Over the weekend, the U.S. Treasury, Federal Reserve, and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation put together a bailout package as well that essentially protected all of SVB's depositors, including those with assets above the federally guaranteed $250,000 limit.