Silicon Valley Bank reportedly had no chief risk officer (CRO) for nine months before Friday’s collapse, as the United Kingdom-based head of risk for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa appeared to have focused on pro-diversity initiatives over her actual role.
Silicon Valley Bank, the tech-sector-focused bank, had operated without a chief risk officer from April 2022 to January 2023, the DailyMail revealed over the weekend after the bank collapsed and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) took it over.
It was reported that Laura Izurieta, the bank’s former head of risk who also formerly worked at Capital One, left in April 2022, and Kim Olson, who brought in “thirty years of financial services experience” to the company formerly worked at Japanese bank Sumitomo Mitsui, wasn’t hired until January 2023.
The bank’s CEO, Greg Becker, at the time, credited Olson’s “deep and multi-faceted financial services experience as a senior risk leader and former regulator and bank supervisor positions” to be a perfect fit to “actively manage SVB’s financial and non-financial risks and to build and scale the firm’s risk management capabilities through our next phase of growth.”
The CRO at the bank is supposed to report to a seven-person committee, which is made up of the board members and the CEO, the website used to state.
However, during the time, while there was no CRO, the bank’s European risk officer was reportedly more focused on diversity efforts.
The Daily Mail UK reported that Jay Ersapah, who acted as the bank’s CRO for Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, describes herself as a “queer person of color from a working-class background” and has organized a host of LGBTQ initiatives, such as a month-long pride campaign in addition to creating “safe space” catch-ups for staff.
In an SVB corporate video that was published about nine months ago, according to the DailyMail, Ersapah was labeled as the Co-chair of EMEA Pride at ERG and claimed that she “could not be prouder” to work at a place like SVB, which funds “underrepresented entrepreneurs” and has “multiple resource groups.”
Professional networking group Outstanding listed Ersapah as a top 100 LGTBQ Future Leader. Ersapah’s bio stated that she is the Co-Chair of EMEA Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) LGBTQ+ network, where she is a “leading figure for the bank’s awareness activities,” The bio further stated:
Jay is a leading figure for the bank’s awareness activities including being an panelist at the SVB’s Global Pride townhall to share her experiences as a lesbian of color, moderating SVB’s EMEA Pride townhall and was instrumental in initiating the organization’s first ever global “safe space catch-up”, supporting employees in sharing their experiences of coming out. Jay created the first month-long SVB EMEA Pride campaign, involving an awareness video with representatives of the firm’s LGTBQ+ communities and allies across the Executive, Board, Stonewall, and SVB UK’s LGBTQ+ charity partner. She volunteered to be a panelist on SVB India’s first Pride session, highlighting the challenges of Asians across LGBTQ+ communities. She authored numerous articles to promote LGBTQ+ awareness, such as Lesbian Visibility Day, Trans Awareness Week and recently an external blog, on Youth Mental Health Day to highlight mental health issues among young LGBTQ+ people, especially from ethnic backgrounds. To promote LGBTQ+ best practices for SVB’s external clients, she hosted an exclusive fireside chat with Suki Sandhu OBE, Founder and CEO of Audeliss and Involve. She is a trustee for Diversity Role Models, who promote LGBTQ+ education and inclusion in schools.
Additionally, Ersapah had been praised about nine months ago in a Facebook group — Diversity Role Models — for a campaign to stop bullying against homophobic, biphobic, and transphobic kids in UK schools.
The social media post quoted her:
“‘You can’t be what you can’t see’ has always been a quote that stuck with me. [Dream Role Models] ensures that the future generation are ‘seeing’ such a variety of roles models and I could not be more excited and privileged to be part of the organisation’s journey.”
Furthermore, in corporate documents, where she calls herself “a queer person of color and a first generation immigrant from a working class background,” she said she feels “privileged” to cochair the LGBTQ+ ERG and “help spread awareness of lived queer experiences, partner with charitable organizations, and above all, create a sense of community for our LGBTQ+ employees and allies.”
Is she Vijaya Gadde of #SVBBank ?
Her bank Risk management strategy went for a toss and stocks fell from 700$ to 40$ and #SVBCollapse
That is what happens when head of financial risk of a bank is Concerned more about woke politics than taking care of the Financial risk of the… https://t.co/PdloqReynw pic.twitter.com/5QVtsQMvMI— Swathi Bellam (@BellamSwathi) March 11, 2023
Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jbliss@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter @JacobMBliss.
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