NEW YORK, Sept. 15, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bernstein Liebhard LLP:

• Do you, or did you, own shares of PacWest Bancorp (NASDAQ: PACW)?
  
  
• Did you purchase your shares between February 28, 2022 and May 3, 2023, inclusive?

• Did you lose money in your investment in PacWest Bancorp?
  
  
• Do you want to discuss your rights?

Bernstein Liebhard LLP announces that a securities class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of investors who purchased or acquired the securities of PacWest Bancorp (“PacWest” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: PACW) between February 28, 2022 and May 3, 2023, inclusive (the “Class Period”). The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California and alleges violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 against the Company and certain of its officers (the “Complaint”).

If you purchased or acquired PacWest securities, and/or would like to discuss your legal rights and options please visit PacWest Bancorp Shareholder Class Action Lawsuit or contact Peter Allocco at (212) 951-2030 or pallocco@bernlieb.com.

According to the Complaint, PacWest operates as a holding company for its wholly-owned subsidiary, Pacific Western Bank (“PWB”), a regional bank based in Los Angeles, California. To support its operations, the Company depends primarily on deposits and external financing sources. Accordingly, PacWest purports to offer “traditional deposit products to businesses and other customers with a variety of rates and terms, including demand, money market, and time deposits” to small, middle-market, and venture-backed businesses.

Plaintiff alleges that Defendants made materially false and misleading statements throughout the Class Period.  Among other things, Defendants failed to disclose to investors that: (i) PacWest had understated the impact of interest rate hikes on PWB, a smaller bank with excessive concentration in specific industries; (ii) accordingly, the Company had overstated the stability and/or sustainability of its deposit base; and (iii) as a result, PacWest was exceptionally vulnerable to excessive deposit flows and/or a liquidity crisis.

On May 3, 2023, less than two months after PacWest reassured investors of its financial strength, Bloomberg published an article entitled “Regional Banks Sink as PacWest Weighs Strategic Options.” According to Bloomberg, “PacWest Bancorp led a renewed slide in regional banks after a report that it’s weighing strategic options including a sale heightened concerns that the turmoil engulfing smaller lenders is far from over[,]” and “[t]he sector has been under pressure as rising interest rates lowered the value of their longer-term investments while increasing the cost of funding and spurring depositors to move cash into higher-yielding money market funds.”

Shortly thereafter, Forbes published an article entitled “PacWest Stock Falls 39% After Federal Reserve’s Latest Interest Rate Hike.” The Forbes article stated that “[h]igher interest rates intensify the spread of the latest bank failure virus that drives deposits out of vulnerable banks, tanks their stock prices, and ultimately prompts an FDIC-enabled rescue[,]” and “the big loss an acquirer would incur to mark down the value of some PacWest loans makes it unlikely a buyer will emerge for the entire bank.”

On this news, PacWest’s common stock fell $2.84 per share, or approximately 44.17%, to close at $3.59 per share on May 4, 2023.

If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than November 10, 2023. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. Your ability to share in any recovery doesn’t require that you serve as lead plaintiff. If you choose to take no action, you may remain an absent class member.

If you purchased or acquired PacWest securities, and/or would like to discuss your legal rights and options please visit PacWest Bancorp Shareholder Class Action Lawsuit or contact Peter Allocco at (212) 951-2030 or pallocco@bernlieb.com.

Since 1993, Bernstein Liebhard LLP has recovered over $3.5 billion for its clients. In addition to representing individual investors, the Firm has been retained by some of the largest public and private pension funds in the country to monitor their assets and pursue litigation on their behalf. As a result of its success litigating hundreds of lawsuits and class actions, the Firm has been named to The National Law Journal’s “Plaintiffs’ Hot List” thirteen times and listed in The Legal 500 for sixteen consecutive years.

ATTORNEY ADVERTISING. © 2023 Bernstein Liebhard LLP. The law firm responsible for this advertisement is Bernstein Liebhard LLP, 10 East 40th Street, New York, New York 10016, (212) 779-1414. Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome with respect to any future matter.

Contact Information:

Peter Allocco
Bernstein Liebhard LLP
https://www.bernlieb.com
(212) 951-2030
pallocco@bernlieb.com