As SVB failed, M&T Bank kept its head and played the jump in rates exactly right

Afundamental part of any banker’s job is being careful with customer money.

Silicon Valley Bank failed after investing deposits in longterm government bonds that lost value when interest rates rose. The hunt is on to figure out which other banks misplayed the market.

Happily, one that seems to have kept its head when others were losing theirs is M&T Bank.

Buffalo-based M&T is a major regional bank in the Northeast and a big commercial real estate lender in the city.

Throughout the financial crisis, M&T never posted a quarterly loss or cut its dividend and now appears to have sidestepped the land mines that blew up SVB.

M&T and SVB began 2022 facing the same issue: Their vaults were overflowing with cash, thanks to government stimulus and a strong economy. Banks routinely invest their excess funds in government bonds, but judgment enters the equation when banks decide how much risk they’re comfortable taking. Longer-term bonds deliver higher yields, but they carry some