The city is bailing out the SF Zoo with a large loan on the condition it fulfills a list of requirements. The zoo also plans to bring back giant pandas to boost revenue, but advocates say its track record shows it can’t properly care for them.

The SF Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to award the San Francisco Zoological Society, the nonprofit that oversees the zoo, with an $8.5 million loan to help keep the zoo running while it implements the required changes from the city’s audit from earlier this month.

As NBC Bay Area reports, the nonprofit will first receive $2.5 million up front, and the remaining funds will be held until after the zoo implements facilities improvements and structural changes outlined in the audit.

“There is a long list of milestones that the Department and the zoo must meet,” said Supervisor Myrna Melgar, who requested the audit last year, as her district covers the zoo.

The zoo’s new director, Cassandra Costello, who was appointed in February, will reportedly be responsible for making sure the zoo fulfills several requirements before receiving the remaining $6 million from the loan. Meanwhile, the Zoological Society will also be required to cut costs, boost revenue and fundraising, and improve oversight and planning practices.

“The city and county owns the land and we own the animals. We have to make sure that it all works,” said Melgar, speaking to NBC Bay Area. “If the organization doesn't survive, it is our responsibility that those animals are taken care of and fed three times a day. So we came up with a plan jointly to help them.”

As SFist reported earlier this month, the audit found the zoo and its nonprofit spent roughly $12 million on construction and improvement projects between 2019 and 2025 without obtaining required city approval, while also citing ongoing budget deficits, weak financial oversight, and broader management failures.

The zoo has faced mounting scrutiny since a series of Chronicle investigations in 2024 detailed concerns surrounding animal welfare, worker safety, and deteriorating conditions at the facility.

According to Bay City News, one proposal for increasing attendance at the SF Zoo centers around the renewed effort to bring back giant pandas from China, which has drawn criticism from animal welfare advocates.

"The audit proves this zoo lacks the financial stability and basic infrastructure to responsibly care for highly sensitive giant pandas," said Taciana Santiago Melo of Panda Voices.

A group called In Defense of Animals is instead calling for the facility to be transformed into an eco park, sanctuary, or native wildlife rehabilitation center, as KQED reports.

“San Francisco Zoo has long been under fire for dilapidated infrastructure, inadequate habitats, and shocking animal care failures,” says the group’s website. “Adding pandas or other new animals would only deepen this crisis and put more animal lives at risk.”

“Cities across the world are moving beyond outdated zoos, and San Francisco must do the same,” says the group.

Supervisors say they plan to closely monitor the zoo as it works through the reforms tied to the loan and audit findings, with Supervisor Connie Chan emphasizing that the next two years are the most critical.

Zoo officials are still reportedly aiming to bring two giant pandas to San Francisco by early 2028, though an agreement with China has not yet been finalized.

Previously: Audit Finds SF Zoo Violated City Laws By Spending $12 Million Without Approval

Image: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

What’s left of the bankrupt and taken-over-by-the-government Silicon Valley Bank has been bought up by North Carolina-based First Citizens Bank, and while we don’t know the price, First Citizens got a hefty discount of at least $16.5 billion.

It’s been a wild three weeks for the banking industry since the nation’s 16th largest bank, Silicon Valley Bank, collapsed in a bank run and was shut down by regulators, in the biggest bank failure in nearly 15 years. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) took over the bank that had been the go-to lender for startups, and was also a major lender and banker for the wine industry, after Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) was unable to cover a staggering $175 billion that their depositors came clamoring for when it looked like the bank was going insolvent.

The government has been shopping the bank’s remnants around for these last three weeks, and finally found a taker. The New York Times reports that North Carolina-based First Citizens BancShares is buying up most of what’s left of Silicon Valley Bank, in a deal that much like the SVB bailout itself, very unusually announced on a Sunday night.

We don’t really have a top-line number for what First Citizens paid, but we do know what they got, and the significant haircut those assets had to take for First Citizens to touch them. According to the New York Times, the deal “included the purchase of about $72 billion in loans, at a discount of $16.5 billion.” First Citizens also took over $56 billion in SVB deposits, but the Times also notes that “Roughly $90 billion in Silicon Valley Bank’s securities and other assets were not included in the sale, and remained in the F.D.I.C.’s control.”

CNN informs us that all 17 SVB branches are open again as of Monday morning, now with the name “Silicon Valley Bank, a division of First Citizens Bank.” But it remains to be seen if startups will be willing to stick with some North Carolina bank that doesn't have a ton of experience catering to the tech industry.

“Admittedly, there has been a strong amount of runoff from the legacy Silicon Valley Bank this quarter,” First Citizens CFO Craig Nix said on an early Monday morning conference call, per the Times. “However, it is our intent to embrace the talents of our legacy SVB employees, embrace their business capabilities and then reiterate to their clients that First Citizens has an unwavering focus on holistic client relationships.”

If you’re like me, your first question here was…. What the heck is First Citizens Bank? The Associated Press explains that “First Citizens Bank was founded in 1898,” has “more than 500 branches in 21 states as well as a nationwide bank, “is one of the top 20 U.S. banks and says it is the largest family-controlled bank in the country.” Their stock price shot up more than 40% on the news (though it had taken a beating in recent weeks, as did most regional banks’ stocks). And perhaps more importantly, shares of the also extremely beleaguered SF-based First Republic Bank shares went up by almost 20% as it too seeks a buyer, which indicates the end of this banking crisis may be in sight, and we might not have to worry that banks that most of us have never heard of will somehow wreck the broader U.S. economy.  

Related: Report: Ron Conway Was Among Venture Capitalists Begging For Silicon Valley Bank Bailout [SFist]

Image: BEVERLY HILLS, CA - MARCH 17: General views of the SVB, Silicon Valley Bank branch on March 17, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)

It was good news on Thursday for regional bank First Republic, which on Monday was facing serious stress in the wake of the failure of Silicon Valley Bank. A coalition of larger banks agreed to funnel $30 billion in deposits to the bank to help it shore itself and meet the demand for withdrawals.

Major banks including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citigroup and U.S. Bank all came together to give a lifeline to First Republic Bank Thursday, and the Treasury Department said the gesture "demonstrates the resilience of the banking system" as a whole.

In a collective statement, the banks said, "This action by America’s largest banks reflects their confidence in First Republic and in banks of all sizes, and it demonstrates their overall commitment to helping banks serve their customers and communities. Regional, midsize and small banks are critical to the health and functioning of our financial system."

Trading in shares of First Republic have been halted multiple times this week due to volatility. After tanking by 70% early Monday, the bank's share price recovered considerably Tuesday, but it's had a rough week on Wall Street and remains down 50% overall in five days.

As CNN reports, S&P Global Ratings downgraded First Republic's credit rating this week based on its large number of uninsured deposits. Unlike SVB, which had 94% of its total deposits uninsured by the FDIC, First Republic has a lower percentage — but one that is still high at around 68%. This has led to a modest run on the bank with customers looking to move their money elsewhere this week.

First Republic is also said to have a particularly high liability to deposit ratio of 111%, meaning that it has lent out more money than it has to pay out to depositors, putting it in a high-risk position should borrowers default.

"America’s financial system is among the best in the world, and America’s banks – large, midsize and community banks – do an extraordinary job serving the banking needs of their unique customers and communities," the coalition of banks coming to the rescue today said. "The banking system has strong credit, plenty of liquidity, strong capital and strong profitability. Recent events did nothing to change this."

Previously: SF-Based First Republic Bank In Huge Trouble As Shares Collapse By More Than 70%, Trading Halted

Top image: An office sits empty at the First Republic Bank headquarters on March 16, 2023 in San Francisco, California. A week after Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank failed, First Republic Bank is considering a sale following a dramatic 60 percent drop in its stock price over the past week. The bank also received $70 billion in emergency loans from JP Morgan Chase and the Federal Reserve. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

According to Associated Press, "The Obama administration is providing $3 billion to unemployed homeowners facing foreclosure in the nation's toughest job markets with the largest chunk coming to California." The Golden State will receive $476 million, with Florida netting nearly $239 million, Illinois receiving $166 million, and Ohio landing a cool $149 million.

The Federal Reserve just agreed to hand over $37.8 billion to vile insurance giant American International Group. You know, to go along with the $85 billion loan bestowed to the troubled insurance screw-ups last month? According to CBS :

Under the new program, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York will borrow up to $37.8 billion in investment-grade, fixed income securities from AIG in return for cash collateral. These securities were previously lent by AIG's insurance company subsidiaries to third parties.

What does this mean for you? It means no one will help you out with all the debt you accrued at Saks for Men, even though you totally needed those shoes, bottle of YSL's M7, and those inane Prada charms to adorn your new cell phone, even though you totally mean to pay it all back, but, well, just can't.

In related news, check out the awesome vacation AIG ilk recently had at the St. Regis resort in Monarch Beach, California. A few tidbits: $200,000 dollars for rooms, over $150,000 for meals, $23,000 in spa charges, and $7,000 for golfing. (In their defense, that new St. Regis in Dana Point is quite spectacular.)