(Yicai Global) March 14 -- The people in charge of two Chinese startups said their firms were preparing to withdraw funds deposited with the failed Silicon Valley Bank, as US regulators moved swiftly to set up a USD25 billion credit line to help financial institutions hit by the lender’s collapse.

The two Chinese companies expected to withdraw the deposits at 9.00 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time yesterday, the sources told Yicai Global, adding that neither had received specific withdrawal notifications yet.

One said his startup will definitely pull all the money it deposited with SVB and transfer it to other big banks, noting that he is still worried about the success of the operation as it very much depends on the lender’s financial situation. The other said his firm would withdraw a part of its deposits to keep only under USD250,000 in the account to avoid similar risks.

The Federal Reserve, the US Department of the Treasury, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation late yesterday PDT urgently co-issued a statement to reassure SVB clients that all deposits of individuals and businesses would be safe and taxpayers would not bear any losses from the lender’s bankruptcy.

The Fed also unveiled a new Bank Term Funding Program, backed by USD25 billion, to make “additional funding available to eligible depository institutions to help assure banks have the ability to meet the needs of all their depositors,” according to the central bank’s website. The BTFP “offers loans of up to one year in length to banks, savings associations, credit unions, and other eligible depository institutions.”

Before US regulators stepped in, depositors were insured up to USD250,000 per depositor under FDIC rules. Payments to depositors of less than USD250,000 began as early as yesterday.

Editors: Shi Yi, Futura Costaglione