Buffett Blames U.S. Gov't For Mishandling Banking Crisis

Investment tycoon Warren Buffett said that messaging from the US government over the regional banking crisis had been "poor," suggesting that is why confidence has not returned among consumers, the Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

Photo Insert: By law, the FDIC insures up to $250,000 of customers' deposits in eligible banks, but for SVB and Signature, the body insured all deposits, including those above the legal limit.

Four regional banks have been caught up in crisis since the beginning of March in the US, three of them subsequently taken over by other institutions with the help of authorities.

For two of them -- Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank -- the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) took the controversial decision to support their uninsured deposits, citing fears of contagion.

By law, the FDIC insures up to $250,000 of customers' deposits in eligible banks, but for SVB and Signature, the body insured all deposits, including those above the legal limit.

Despite that step, consumers are still worried, Buffett said at a shareholder meeting of Berkshire Hathaway. "That just shouldn't happen. The messaging has been very poor," said the billionaire, who continues to run his group at the age of 92.

"It's been poor by the politicians who sometimes have an interest in having it poor, it's been poor by the agencies. And I'd say it's been poor by the press."

What happened with SVB demonstrated a government takeover completed with an expanded deposit guarantee, "and the public is still confused," he said.

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