PacWest Bancorp said deposits fell 9.5% last week after a news report that the lender was in talks with potential investors. Shares of the regional bank slumped.
“The news headlines increased our customers’ fears of the safety of their deposits,” the company said in a regulatory filing Thursday.
Bloomberg News reported on May 3 that the Beverly Hills-based bank was weighing a range of strategic options, including a sale, and that the company has also been considering a breakup or a capital raise. A majority of the deposit drop happened in the two days after the report, PacWest said in the filing. Hours after the report, PacWest confirmed it was in talks with several potential investors.
PacWest shares fell 21% at 7:32 a.m. in early New York trading, after earlier declining as much as 29%.
US regional banks have been in turmoil after a run on deposits struck several lenders, leading to the collapse of three California-based banks and one in New York. Rising interest rates depressed the value of bonds that many regional lenders bought when rates were low, and a surge in customer withdrawals forced some of them to sell those assets at a loss.
PacWest said it funded the deposit withdrawals with “available on-balance-sheet liquidity.” As of May 10, immediately available liquidity was $15 billion, which exceeded uninsured deposits of $5.2 billion.
PacWest also said it intends to complete its previously announced strategic asset sales this quarter to improve liquidity and capital ratios.
