Justice Department, SEC investigating failure of Silicon Valley Bank

The Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank after the lender was taken over by regulators, according to a report.

The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that the separate investigations are in their preliminary phases after the run on deposits last week at the nation’s 16th-largest bank.

The investigations are examining stock sales that SVB Financial’s officers made days before the bank failed, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the probes. The Justice investigation involves the department’s fraud prosecutors in Washington and San Francisco.