The US is said to have launched an investigation

The SEC has also launched an investigation, which is being led by the commission’s San Francisco office, said a person briefed on the matter.

Andrew Calamari, an attorney for Finn Dixon & Herling and a former director of the New York office of the Securities and Exchange Commission, said insider selling is an obvious issue for prosecutors to investigate. He also said that any SEC investigation would look at the bank’s insider sales, as well as its disclosures about its financial health.

The SEC did not respond to a request for comment. But Gary Gensler, the SEC chairman, issued a statement Sunday in response to troubles in the banking sector.

“Without speaking to a single organization or individual, we will investigate and take enforcement action if we find violations of federal securities laws,” he said.

The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank was sparked by a bank run by customers who had so-called uninsured deposits — accounts that exceeded the $250,000 ($373,910) limit for federally guaranteed deposit insurance — and were trying to withdraw these funds.

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The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. seized the bank on Friday and two days later they seized another bank, Signature Bank, which was facing a similar problem. The FDIC and Federal Reserve also said all depositors at both banks would be made well, to avoid concerns that the banks’ business customers might not be able to pay their employees.

The bank failures fueled widespread fears that depositors could withdraw their money from regional lenders – a move that could destabilize the banking system. But action taken by federal regulators over the weekend appeared to stem some of that fear, sending regional bank shares higher on Tuesday.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.