Dutch biotech company Pharming is one of several Dutch companies with money on deposit at the Silicon Valley Bank which collapsed on Friday, the Euronext-listed company said at the weekend.

In total, Leiden-based Pharming has some $26 million in cash at SVB in the US and a further US$19 million in deposits at Silicon Valley Bank UK. Most of the money is uninsured.

The US federal reserve and treasury department issued a statement on Sunday saying that they would protect depositors and they will have full access to their money from Monday.

Pharming said it does not now expect to bear any losses on its deposits but is actively monitoring the situation with regards to the cash held in Britain. The British deposits largely exceed the protected limit.

Later on Monday morning, the British government announced that HSBC had bought SVB UK for a token £1 in a move aimed at protecting depositors’ money.

Reserves

Pharming’s deposits with SVB account for some 21.5% of its cash reserves at the end of last year.

According to the Financieele Dagblad, around 50% of Dutch tech firms which are active in the US use SVB.

The Dutch government has also done business with the bank. It was one of the sponsors of the Hollanders in de Valley and Scale NL programmes launched by the economic affairs ministry to stimulate Dutch tech in the US.