HSBC's takeover of Silicon Valley Bank UK came after just five hours of due diligence work

HSBC, Europe's largest lender and buyer of the collapsed UK arm of Silicon Valley Bank, has praised SVB UK and shed new light on how the emergency takeover came to be.

The decision to purchase SVB UK was reached by HSBC at 6.30pm on Sunday after just five hours of due diligence checks, HSBC's UK chief executive told Sky's Ian King.

"We're very excited with what we've got. We've got really good people. And I think we've got actually a very good business that's been well run in the UK," Ian Stuart said.

HSBC had emerged late as a bidder for SVB UK.

"On Friday, I did not think we would be buying another bank come Sunday. It was opportunistic, but it allows us I think, to accelerate our strategy by two or three years," Mr Stuart said.

In the end, HSBC paid only £1 for the lender, with a balance sheet of £8.8bn and deposits worth £6.7bn.

In securing those deposits HSBC calmed fears of tech companies and start-ups banking with SVB UK. There were concerns such firms would be unable to meet costs, including payroll, as they could not access their money.

Mr Stuart further attempted to allay customer concerns by saying HSBC would not be calling in loans, looking for immediate repayment for money SVB UK had lent.

He also confirmed a story broken by Sky that the SVB UK chief executive, Erin Platts, is to remain at the helm.

Asked about the risk of contagion from the Credit Suisse storm - Mr Stuart said it was "very different from 2008" when the global financial system crashed.

Credit Suisse has been in the headlines after shares slid and recovered as the Swiss central bank stepped in to fund Switzerland's second largest bank after its biggest shareholder, Saudi National Bank, said it would not provide any further financial assistance.

Credit Suisse had rattled markets when earlier this week it announced there was a "material weaknesses" in its financial reporting processes for 2021 and 2022.