Scoop: First Citizens lays off almost 500 Silicon Valley Bank employees

First Citizens Bancshares on Wednesday laid off nearly 500 Silicon Valley Bank employees, two months after buying the failed lender, Axios has learned from multiple sources.

Details: Almost all of the layoffs were in SVB's commercial banking business, rather than its private wealth management group.

• According to an email sent this morning to all employees by First Citizens CEO Frank Holding Jr., none of the eliminated position were "client facing," nor were they India-based support staff.
• A source says the layoffs represent less than 3% of First Citizens' total workforce.

What they're saying: In his email, Holding Jr. wrote: "Given the challenges faced by SVB in early 2023, it is increasingly clear that we must make decisions to right-size our scope and scale to remain competitive."

• He added: "As a result, we are taking difficult but necessary actions to ensure that our workforce and costs are appropriate for a bank our size. That means that some members of our team will be transitioning out of the business effective today."

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