HSBC, Europe's largest bank, announced this Sunday that it has bought the British subsidiary of the US bank Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), following its collapse, for the symbolic sum of 1.13 euros.

HSBC estimates the equity of the subsidiary, SBV UK, at around 1.4 billion pounds (1.58 billion euros).

"This acquisition makes strategic sense for our UK business," HSBC CEO Noel Quinn said in the statement.

The institution said that the offer was made in partnership with a consortium of private equity firms to the UK authorities, including the Treasury, the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Bank of England, as well as SVB's board of directors.

The CEO of the Bank of London, Anthony Watson, argued that the SVB cannot fail and that the situation is an opportunity to diversify the country's banking system.