Janet Yellen says federal government won’t bail out Silicon Valley Bank

Yellen said, "During the financial crisis there were investors and owners of systemic large banks that were bailed out and we're certainly not looking—and the reforms that have been put in place means that we're not going to do that again."

"But we are concerned about depositors and are focused on trying to meet their needs," she added.

The same day as Yellen's comments the Washington Post reported that "Federal authorities are seriously considering safeguarding all uninsured deposits at Silicon Valley Bank, weighing an extraordinary intervention to prevent what they fear would be a panic in the US financial system."

On Friday, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation regulators seized the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) following a run on the bank and later said they could only guarantee insurance on deposits up to $250,000, which is their standard policy. Depositors with balances in excess of that amount were told they would receive receivership certificates for their uninsured balances.

On Sunday, federal regulators began auctioning off the remaining Silicon Valley Bank assets in hopes a buyer would help repay those who have deposits with the banks.

According to the New York Post, depositors have been told they could receive anywhere between 30 percent and 50 percent of their cash back on Monday, as another run is expected at the beginning of the week.

Yellen said, "America's economy relies on a safe and sound banking system that can provide for the credit needs of our households and businesses. So, whenever a bank, especially one like Silicon Valley Bank with billions of dollars in deposits fails, it's clearly a concern."

She said that many of the depositors "may be small businesses" who rely on their funds for day-to-day business.

"I've been working all weekend with our banking regulators to design appropriate policies to address this situation. I can't really provide further details at this time. But what I do want to do is emphasize that the American banking system is really safe and well capitalized. It's resilient," she added.

According to the Washington Post, "Federal authorities are seriously considering safeguarding all uninsured deposits at Silicon Valley Bank, weighing an extraordinary intervention to prevent what they fear would be a panic in the US financial system."