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Look Ahead: Silvergate Bank Considers Going Public, Makes Preparations

Silvergate Bank, one of the largest privately held banks in San Diego, revealed in the past year it was making the necessary preparations to consider going public as soon as 2018.

It’s not a done deal, of course: the bank’s board would have to OK the move. But management and employees have been putting in the time to make sure Silvergate could enter the public markets, if leadership decides to go that route.

That’s included an overhaul of its core banking system and an effort to map its business processes to spot potential areas for improvement.

The bank in 2017 moved its headquarters to a larger space in La Jolla, and put its name atop the office tower into which it moved in — a first for the institution.

Alan Lane, the CEO, prides the bank on being more innovative than competitors; and his decision to position Silvergate as a cryptocurrency-friendly institution seemed rather prescient at year’s end considering the surge in interest in the topic among some investors. The bank has partnered with a U.K. fintech startup Elliptic to vet prospective clients in that space, which is riskier than more-traditional banking.

At the end of the third quarter of 2017, the most recent data available, the bank’s total assets hit $1.2 billion, surpassing $1 billion for the first time.

Even if the bank doesn’t go public in 2018, it’s likely to continue to make newsworthy moves: Lane has said the bank will look to open its first branch outside of the county this year, likely in Orange County, and its headcount will continue to increase.

Today Silvergate, which opened in 1988, has branches in Carlsbad, Escondido, La Jolla, and La Mesa, and a loan production office in the Orange County city of Seal Beach.

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