American banks will be paying especially close attention to the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate decision on Wednesday, as the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) continues to reverberate through financial markets. The majority of futures traders predict the Fed will increase its benchmark lending rate by 25 basis points to a range of 4.75-5.00 percent, according to CME Group. That would be in line with the size of the US central bank’s previous rate hike in February, and mark the ninth increase since it began tightening monetary conditions last year in a bid to tackle rising inflation. But despite these efforts, ... (full story)