Sawt Falasteen - The latest in the banking sector turmoil

Here are the most recent developments:

- SVB takeover -

SVB, a key lender to the tech industry since the 1980s, became earlier this month the biggest US bank to fail since the 2008 global financial crisis following a run on deposits.

Its collapse has rattled stock markets and shares of other banks as investors fret over the health of the global financial sytem.

North Carolina-based First Citizens Bank said Monday it had agreed to purchase "substantially all loans and certain other assets, and assume all customer deposits and certain other liabilities" of SVB.

First Citizens Bank is taking over SVB's 17 branches as part of the agreement.

The transaction includes the sale of $72 billion in assets at a discount of $16.5 billion, according to the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which had seized control of SVB on March 10.

Founded in 1898, First Citizens is the biggest family-owned lender in the United States.

- Credit Suisse fallout -

The chairman of Saudi National Bank, the main shareholder of troubled lender Credit Suisse, has resigned almost two weeks after his comments contributed to the Swiss lender's downfall.

The Saudi bank said Monday that Ammar AlKhudairy resigned due to personal reasons.

Credit Suisse's shares plummeted on March 15 after AlKhudairy said the Saudi bank would not raise its stake from 9.8 percent due to regulatory constraints.

Credit Suisse grabbed a $54 billion central bank lifeline in a bid to restore investor confidence.

But fears about the health of the broader financial sector led to its takeover by domestic rival UBS in a government-brokered emergency deal on March 19.

Separetely, Swiss financial regulator Finma is exploring how to hold bosses at Credit Suisse to account for the bank's troubles, according to Swiss weekly NZZ am Sonntag.

- Deutsche Bank rebound -

Deutsche Bank shares rose Monday on the Frankfurt stock exchange after a rout last week amid concerns of contagion from the SVB and Credit Suisse debacles.

Shares in Germany's largest lender finished 8.5 percent lower on Friday after sinking as much as 14 percent.

Its stock price tanked after the cost of insuring the bank's debt against default surged.

- IMF warning -

International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva warned on Sunday that risks to financial stability had increased following the recent turmoil.

The sector's woes have been linked to interest rate hikes that central banks have imposed to combat sky-high inflation.

The rate increases have brought down the value of bond portfolios with lower returns that banks had built up prior to monetary tightening.

Georgieva said the "rapid" switch from a long period of low rates to much higher borrowing costs "inevitably generates stresses and vulnerabilities, as evidenced by recent developments in the banking sector in some advanced economies".

J.AbuHassan--SF-PST