As investors weighed the consequences of the recent spate of banking failures in the US, European markets sank Monday, led down by banking stocks. In the US three major banks, Silvergate, Silicon Valley Bank, and Signature Bank, had all failed in the space of a week.

With all its major stocks in the red, the pan-European Stoxx 600 index fell 2.56% as of 1300 GMT. Bank stocks were off over 6%, with Commerzbank BAWAG Group and Banco BPM leading the losses. Credit Suisse plunged 15% in early trading as Unicredit lost 9%. Deutsche Bank and Raiffeisen Bank both fell 7%.

Meanwhile news broke that HSBC in Britain, one of the largest banks in the world with $2.9 trillion in assets, agreed to purchase the assets of the British branch of SVB, paying a symbolic £1 in return for a promise to protect client deposits. After the announcement of the deal, HSBC shares fell 3.5%.

Haig Bathgate, head of investments at Atomos, said in an interview with Bloomberg, “We’re seeing a liquidity withdrawal – the classic thing that you’d expect following a credit event like what’s happening at SVB. People get scared, reduce exposure to equities and move into government bonds.”