Erebor bank earns preliminary government approval to proceed as a new startup bank. Erebor is seeking to target many of the same customers from Silicon Valley Bank. The approval for Erebor follows a wave of other companies and startups seeking to become banks. This episode examined articles from The Wall Street Journal and S&P Global Market Intelligence, both require subscriptions. The Wall Street Journal Article is titled “How Hobbit-Inspired Startup Plans to Replace Silicon Valley Bank.” The articles form S&P Global are titled “US bank charter applications surge, dominated by nonbanks” and “OCC grants conditional approval for Erebor Bank’s national charter application.”