PacWest stock plummeted as investors remain worried about the financial sector, a decline which occurred despite Federal Reserveofficials assuring market actors hours earlier that the banking system is “sound and resilient.”
First Republic Bank imploded on Monday, weeks after Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank similarly collapsed, as account holders with balances above the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation threshold at the three medium-sized banks rushed to withdraw their funds. PacWest was among several other regional banks to see stock prices sharply decline earlier this week amid news of the First Republic Bank failure and subsequent sale to JPMorgan Chase.
Shares for PacWest, which is based in Beverly Hills, California, and also serves clients in Arizona, Utah, and Texas, declined more than 45% between market close on Wednesday and early morning trading on Thursday. The firm has seen stock prices decrease more than 67% over the past five days and nearly 87% since the banking crisis started two months ago.
Several reports indicated that PacWest would consider strategic options such as a sale or capital raise; the company confirmed in a statement on Wednesday that multiple “potential partners and investors” have approached executives.
