We have adopted a written Code of Business Conduct and Ethics that applies to all directors, officers and employees, including our principal executive officer and senior financial officers, in accordance with Section 406 of the Sarbanes‑Oxley Act of 2002 and the rules of the SEC promulgated thereunder and it is available via the "Investor Relations"“Corporate Overview” link at the Bank'sPacWest’s website in the section titled “Corporate Governance.” Any changes in, or waivers from, the provisions of this code of ethics that the SEC requires us to disclose are posted on our website in such section. In the Corporate Governance section of our website, we have also posted the charters for our Audit Committee, Compensation and Human Capital Committee, Finance Committee, Nominating and Governance Committee, Asset/Liability Management Committee, and Risk Committee, as well as our Corporate Governance Guidelines. In addition, information concerning purchases and sales of our equity securities by our executive officers and directors is posted on ourPacWest’s website.

PacWest Bancorp, a Delaware corporation, is a bank holding company registered under the BHCA and headquartered in Los Angeles, California, with our corporate headquarters locatedan executive office in Beverly Hills, California.Denver, Colorado. Our principal business is to serve as the holding company for our wholly-owned subsidiary, Pacific Western Bank. References to "Pacific Western" or the "Bank" refer to Pacific Western Bank together with its wholly-owned subsidiaries. References to "we," "us," or the "Company" refer to PacWest Bancorp together with its subsidiaries on a consolidated basis. When we refer to "PacWest" or to the "holding company," we are referring to PacWest Bancorp, the parent company, on a stand-alone basis.

The Bank is a relationship-based community bank focused on relationship-basedproviding business banking and treasury management services to small, middle-market, and venture-backed businesses nationwide.businesses. The Bank offers a broad range of loan and lease and deposit products and services through 69 full-service branches located inthroughout California one branch locatedand in Durham, North Carolina one branch located inand Denver, Colorado, and numerous loan production offices acrossaround the country. The Bank provides community banking products including lending and comprehensive deposit and treasury management services to small and medium-sized businesses conducted primarily through our California-based branch offices and Denver, Colorado branch office. The Bank offers national lending products including asset-based, equipment, and real estate loans and treasury management services to established middle-market businesses on a national basis. The Bank also provides venture banking products including a comprehensive suite of financial services focused on entrepreneurial and venture-backed businesses and their venture capital and private equity investors, with offices located in key innovative hubs across the United States. The Bank also offers financing of business-purpose non-owner-occupied investor properties through Civic, a wholly-owned subsidiary. The Bank also provides a specialized suite of services for the HOA industry. In addition, we provide investment advisory and asset management services to select clients through Pacific Western Asset Management Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Bank and an SEC-registered investment adviser.

Our business strategy is to operate a client-focused, well-capitalized and profitable nationwide bank dedicated to providing personal service to our business and individual customers. We believe that stable, long-term growth and profitability are the result of building strong customer relationships while maintaining disciplined credit underwriting standards. We continue to focus on originating high-quality loans and leases and growing our low-cost deposit base through our relationship-based business lending. These principles enable us to maintain operational efficiency, increase profitability, increase core deposits, and grow loans and leases in a sound manner.

Our loan and lease portfolio consists primarily of real estate mortgage loans, real estate construction and land loans, and commercial loans and leases. We pursue attractive growth opportunities to expand and enter new markets aligned with our business model and strategic plans. Additionally, we focus on cultivating strong relationships with venture capital and private equity firms nationwide, many of which are also our clients and/or may invest in our clients.

Our reputation, expertise, and relationship-based business banking model enable us to deepen our relationships with our customers. We leverage our relationships with existing customers by providing access to an array of our products and services, including attracting deposits from and offering cash management solutions to our loan and lease customers. We competitively price our deposit products to meet the needs of our customers with a view to maximizing our share of each customer's financial services business and prudently managing our cost of funds.

Our management team has extensive expertise and a successful track record in evaluating, executing and integrating attractive, franchise-enhancing acquisitions. We have successfully completed 31 acquisitions since 2000, including the Civic acquisition on February 1, 2021 and the HOA Business acquisition on October 8, 2021. We will continue to consider acquisitions that are consistent with our business strategy and financial model as opportunities arise.

Deposits are our primary source of funds to support our interest-earning assets and provide a source of stable low-cost funds and deposit-related fee income. We offer traditional deposit products to businesses and other customers with a variety of rates and terms, including demand, money market, and time deposits. We also provide international banking services, multi-state deposit services, and asset management services. The Bank’s deposits are insured by the FDIC up to statutory limits.

Our branch network allows us to gather deposits, expand our brand presence and service our customers’ banking and cash management needs. We also serve our customers through a wide range of non-branch channels, including online, mobile, remote deposit, and telephone banking platforms, all of which allows us to expand our service area to attract new depositors without a commensurate increase in branch locations or branch traffic.

At December 31, 2021,2022, our total deposits consisted of $32.7$26.6 billion in core deposits, $1.4$4.7 billion in time deposits, and $890.0 million$2.6 billion in non-corewholesale non-maturity deposits. Core deposits represented 93%78% of total deposits at December 31, 2021,2022, and were comprised of $14.5$11.2 billion in noninterest-bearing deposits, $10.2$7.8 billion in money market accounts, $7.3$7.0 billion in interest-bearing checking accounts, and $630.7$577.6 million in savings accounts. Our deposit base is also diversified by client type. As of December 31, 2021,2022, no individual depositor represented more than 1.7%1.5% of our total deposits, and our top ten depositors represented 11.2%9.1% of our total deposits.

At December 31, 20212022 and 2020,2021, total loans and leases held for investment, net of deferred fees, were $22.9$28.6 billion and $19.1$22.9 billion. Our lending activities include real estate mortgage loans, real estate construction and land loans, commercial loans and leases, purchased single-family residential mortgage loans, and a small amount of consumer loans. Our commercial real estate loans and real estate construction loans are secured by a variety of property types. Included in our commercial real estate loans and real estate construction loans are business-purpose loans secured by non-owner-occupied residential investment properties provided by Civic, a wholly-owned subsidiary. Our commercial loans and leases portfolio is diverse and includes various asset-secured loans, equipment-secured loans and leases, venture capital loans to support venture capital firms’ operations and the operations of entrepreneurial and venture-backed companies, loans to finance life insurance premiums, and business loans originated through our Community Banking group. The Bank also offers financing of business-purpose non-owner-occupied investor properties through Civic, a wholly-owned subsidiary.

In October 2019, we ceased originating new security monitoring loans and healthcare real estate loans in our National Lending group. At December 31, 2022, there were no outstanding security monitoring loans, and there were $44.0 million of National Lending healthcare real estate loans. During the fourth quarter of 2022, we decided to cease originating new loans to finance life insurance premiums and will allow these loans to repay upon maturities.

We price loans to preserve our interest spread and maintain our net interest margin. Loan interest rates may be floating, fixed, or a combination thereof (“hybrid”) throughout the loan term. The rates on hybrid loans typically are fixed until a “reset” date when the rates then become floating. While we do not actively solicit direct consumer loans, we hold consumer loans, consisting primarily of purchased single-family residential mortgage loans and purchased private student loans for which the servicing is outsourced. We also have an exposure to consumer loans that are collateral for many of our lender finance loans.

Our real estate lending activities focus primarily on loans to professional developers and real estate investors for the acquisition, construction, refinancing, renovation, and on-going operation of commercial real estate. We also provide commercial real estate loans to borrowers operating businesses at these sites (owner occupied commercial real estate loans), including loans to municipalities, schools and school districts, and non-profit borrowers as part of our tax-exempt lending business line.

Our real estate secured loans include the following specific lending products:

Our real estate portfolio is subject to certain risks including, but not limited to, the following:

Many of the risks outlined above result from market conditions and are not controllable by us. When considering the markets in which to pursue real estate loans, we consider the market conditions, our current loan portfolio concentrations by property type and by market, and our past experiences with the borrower, within the specific market, and with the property type.

When underwriting real estate loans, we seek to mitigate risk by using the following framework:

With respect to real estate construction loans, in addition to the points above, we attempt to mitigate project-specific risks by:

Our commercial loans and leases include the following specific lending products:

Consumer loans are primarily purchased private student loans originated and serviced by third-parties and not guaranteed by any program of the U.S. Government. These loans refinanced the outstanding student loan debt of borrowers who met certain underwriting criteria, with terms that fully amortize the debt over terms ranging from five to twenty years. Consumer loans internally originated may also include personal loans, auto loans, home equity lines of credit, revolving lines of credit, and other loans typically made by banks to individual borrowers.

We devote significant financial and management resources to maintain stable, reliable, efficient, secure and scalable information technology systems. Where possible, we utilize third-party software systems that are hosted and supported by nationally recognized vendors.  We work with our third-party vendors to monitor and maximize the efficiency of our use of their applications. We use integrated systems to originate and process loans and deposit accounts, which reduces processing time, automates numerous internal controls, improves customer experiences and reduces costs. Most customer records are maintained digitally. We also provide online, mobile, and telephone banking services to further improve the overall client experience.

We use an enterprise data warehouse system in order to aggregate, analyze, and report key metrics associated with our customers and products. Data is collected across multiple systems so that standard and ad hoc reports are available to assist with managing our business.

We maintain an information technology strategic plan. This plan defines the overall innovation and technology agenda and vision, tracks information technology and information security trends and priorities, and provides details on information technology initiatives over the next several years. Through our annual information technology budgeting process, we analyze our infrastructure for capacity planning, detail migration plans to replace aging hardware and software, and resource plan for internal and external information technology staffing needs against planned initiatives.

Protecting our systems to ensure the safety of customer information is critical to our business. We use multiple layers of protection to control access, detect unusual activity and reduce risk. We regularly conduct a variety of audits and vulnerability and penetration tests on our platforms, systems and applications and maintain comprehensive incident response plans to minimize potential risks, including cyber-attacks. To protect our business operations against disasters, we have a backup off-site core processing system and comprehensive recovery plans.

We believe risk management is another core competency of our business. We have a comprehensive risk management process that measures, monitors, evaluates, and manages the risks we assume in conducting our activities. Our oversight of this risk management process is conducted by the Company’s Board of Directors (the “Board”) and its standing committees. The committees each report to the Board and the Board has overall oversight responsibility for risk management.

The banking business is highly competitive. We compete nationwide with other commercial banks and financial services institutions for loans and leases, deposits, and employees. Some of these competitors are larger in total assets and capitalization, with more offices over a wider geographic area and offer a broader range of financial services than our operations. Our most direct competition for loans comes from larger regional and national banks, diversified finance companies, venture debt funds, and community banks that target the same customers as we do. In recent years, competition has increased from institutions not subject to the same regulatory restrictions as domestic banks and bank holding companies. Those competitors include non-bank specialty lenders, insurance companies, private investment funds, investment banks, financial technology companies, and other financial and non-financial institutions.

Competition is based on a number of factors, including interest rates charged on loans and leases and paid on deposits, underwriting standards, loan covenants, required guarantees, the scope and type of banking and financial services offered, convenience of our branch locations, customer service, technological changes, and regulatory constraints. Many of our competitors are large companies that have substantial capital, technological, and marketing resources. Some of our competitors have substantial market positions and have access to a lower cost of capital or a less expensive source of funds. Because of economies of scale, our larger, nationwide competitors may offer loan pricing that is more attractive than what we are willing to offer.

Economic factors, along with legislative and technological changes, will have an ongoing impact on the competitive environment within the financial services industry. We work to anticipate and adapt to dynamic competitive conditions whether it is by developing and marketing innovative products and services, adopting or developing new technologies that differentiate our products and services, cross marketing, or providing highly personalized banking services. We strive to distinguish ourselves from other banks and financial services providers in our marketplace by providing an extremely high level of service to enhance customer loyalty and to attract and retain business.

We differentiate ourselves in the marketplace through the quality of service we provide to borrowers while maintaining competitive interest rates, loan fees and other loan terms. We emphasize personalized relationship banking services and the efficient decision-making of our lending business units. We compete effectively based on our in-depth knowledge of our borrowers' industries and their business needs based upon information received from our borrowers' key decision-makers, analysis by our experienced professionals, and interaction between these two groups; our breadth of loan product offerings and flexible and creative approach to structuring products that meet our borrowers' business and timing needs; and our dedication to superior client service. However, we can provide no assurance as to the effectiveness of these efforts on our future business or results of operations, as to our continued ability to anticipate and adapt to changing conditions, and as to sufficiently improving our services and banking products in order to successfully compete in the marketplace.

Our business strategy is to operate a client-focused, well-capitalized and profitable nationwide bank dedicated to providing personal service to our business and individual customers. Our employees are our most important assets and they set the foundation for our ability to achieve our strategic objectives. We believe that we have a competitive advantage in the markets we serve because of our long-standing reputation for providing superior, relationship-based customer service. In order to continue to provide the expertise and customer service for which we are known, it is crucial that we continue to attract, retain, and develop top talent. To facilitate talent attraction and retention, we strive to make the Bank a diverse, inclusive, and safe workplace, with opportunities for our employees to grow and advance in their careers, supported by strong compensation, benefits, and health and wellness programs.

We strive to attract, develop, and retain highly qualified employees for each role in the organization. Working under this principle, our Human Resources Department is tasked with managing employment-related matters, including recruiting and hiring, onboarding and training, compensation planning, performance management, and professional development. Our Board of Directors and Board committeesCompensation and Human Capital Committee provide oversight on certain human capital matters, including our compensation and benefit programs. As noted in its charter, our Compensation Nominating and GovernanceHuman Capital Committee is responsible for periodically reviewing employee compensation programs and initiatives to ensure they are competitive and aligned with our stockholders’ long-term interests, including incentives and benefits, as well as our succession planning and strategies. Our Compensation Nominating and GovernanceHuman Capital Committee also works closely with the Risk Committee to monitor current and emerging human capital management risks and to mitigate exposure to those risks.

At December 31, 2021,2022, we had approximately 2,2002,438 full-time, part-time, and temporary employees, the overwhelming majority of which were full-time employees. None of the Company’s employees are represented by a labor union or by collective bargaining agreements. During 2021,2022, the number of employees increased by approximately 30%9.7% due primarily to the Civicgrowth in Civic's operations and HOA Business acquisitions.additions to support our technology initiatives. During 2021,2022, our employee turnover rate was approximately 15.1%14.1%. The average tenure of our full-time employees is 6.96.7 years.

At December 31, 2021,2022, the composition of our workforce was categorized as follows:

Our key human capital management objectives are to attract, retain, and develop the highest quality talent. To support these objectives, our human resources programs are designed to develop talent to prepare them for critical roles and leadership positions for the future, reward and support employees through competitive pay, benefit, and perquisite programs, enhance the Company’s culture through efforts aimed at making the workplace more engaging and inclusive, acquire talent, and facilitate internal talent mobility to create a high-performing, diverse workforce, and evolve and invest in technology, tools and resources to enable employees to effectively and efficiently perform their responsibilities and achieve their full potential.

Some examples of key programs and initiatives that are focused to attract, develop and retain our workforce include:

The Company and the Bank are subject to extensive regulation under federal and state banking laws that establish a comprehensive framework for our operations. Such regulation is intended to, among other things, protect the interests of customers, including depositors, and the federal deposit insurance fund, as well as to minimize risk to the banking system as a whole. These regulations are not, however, generally charged with protecting the interests of our stockholders or other creditors. Described below are elements of selected laws and regulations applicable to our Company or the Bank. The descriptions are not intended to be complete and are qualified in their entirety by reference to the full text of the statutes and regulations described. Changes in applicable law or regulations, particularly in the current U.S. political environment, and in their application by regulatory agencies, cannot be predicted, and they may have a material effect on the business, operations, and results of the Company or the Bank.

As a bank holding company, PacWest is registered with and subject to supervision, regulation, and examination by the FRB under the BHCA, and we are required to file with the FRB periodic reports of our operations and additional information regarding the Company and its subsidiaries as the FRB may require.

The Dodd-Frank Act, which codified the FRB's long-standing "source-of-strength" doctrine, requires the Company to act as a source of financial strength to the Bank including committing resources to support the Bank even at times when the Company may not be in a financial position to do so. Similarly, under the cross‑guarantee provisions of the FDIA, the FDIC can hold any FDIC‑insured depository institution liable for any loss suffered or anticipated by the FDIC in connection with (i) the default of a commonly controlled FDIC‑insured depository institution or (ii) any assistance provided by the FDIC to such a commonly controlled institution.

Pursuant to the BHCA, we are required to obtain the prior approval of the FRB before we acquire all or substantially all of the assets of any bank or the ownership or control of voting shares of any bank if, after giving effect to such acquisition, we would own or control, directly or indirectly, more than 5 percent of the voting shares of such bank. Pursuant to the Bank Merger Act, the prior approval of the FDIC is required for the Bank to merge with another bank or purchase all or substantially all of the assets or assume any of the deposits of another FDIC-insured depository institution. In reviewing certain merger or acquisition transactions, the federal regulators will consider the assessment of the competitive effect and public benefits of the transactions, the capital position and managerial resources of the combined organization, the risks to the stability of the U.S. banking orand financial system, our performance record under the CRA, our compliance with fair housing and other consumer protection laws, and the effectiveness of all organizations involved in combating money laundering activities. The ability of any bank holding company to acquire another bank holding company or bank is also significantly impacted by subjective decisions of federal regulators, including political appointees, as to whether any proposed merger would be consistent with then-current national financial institutions policies. These subjective views may have an impact on the ability of any bank holding company to engage in a merger transaction.

Under the BHCA, we may not engage in any business other than managing or controlling banks or furnishing services to our subsidiaries and such other activities that the FRB deems to be so closely related to banking as “to be a proper incident thereto.” We are also prohibited, with certain exceptions, from acquiring direct or indirect ownership or control of more than 5 percent of the voting shares of any company unless the company is engaged in banking activities or the FRB determines that the activity is so closely related to banking as to be a proper incident to banking. Generally, the FRB’s approval must be obtained before the shares of any such company can be acquired.

The Dodd‑Frank Act, which was enacted in July 2010, significantly restructured the financial regulatory landscape in the United States, including the creation of a new systemic risk oversight body, the FSOC. The FSOC oversees and coordinates the efforts of the primary U.S. financial regulatory agencies (including the FRB, the SEC, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the FDIC) in establishing regulations to address financial stability concerns. The Dodd-Frank Act and the FRB’s implementing regulations impose increasingly stringent regulatory requirements on financial institutions as their size and scope of activities increases.increase.

In May 2018, the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (“EGRRCPA”) was enacted. While the EGRRCPA reduced the impact of the Dodd-Frank Act on bank holding companies of our size, including in respect to stress testing, the Dodd-Frank Act nonetheless subjected us to additional significant regulatory requirements. In addition, as a result of the Dodd-Frank Act and our having in excess of $10 billion in total consolidated assets, the Company and the Bank are subject to the examination and supervision of the CFPB with respect to compliance with certain consumer financial laws.

Transactions between the Bank and its affiliates are regulated under federal banking law. Subject to certain exceptions set forth in the Federal Reserve Act and implementing regulations, a bank may enter into “covered transactions” with its affiliates if the aggregate amount of the covered transactions to any single affiliate does not exceed 10 percent of the Bank’s capital stock and surplus or 20 percent of the Bank’s capital stock and surplus for covered transactiontransactions with all affiliates. Covered transactions include, among other things, the extension of credit, the investment in securities, the purchase of assets, the acceptance of collateral or the issuance of a guaranty. The Dodd-Frank Act significantly expanded the coverage and scope of the limitations on affiliate transactions within a banking organization. Additionally, most transactions that the Bank engages in with an affiliate, including where an affiliate performs a service for the Bank, must be on similar terms and conditions as the Bank would get from a non-affiliate.

The ability of the Company to pay dividends on or to repurchase its common or preferred stock, and the ability of the Bank to pay dividends to the Company, may be restricted due to several factors including: (a) the DGCL (in the case of the Company) and applicable California law (in the case of the Bank), (b) covenants contained in our subordinated debt and borrowing agreements, and (c) the regulatory authority of the FRB, the DFPI, and the FDIC.

Our ability to pay dividends to our stockholders or to repurchase shares of our common or preferred stock is subject to the restrictions set forth in the DGCL. The DGCL provides that a corporation, unless otherwise restricted by its certificate of incorporation, may declare and pay dividends (or repurchase shares) out of its surplus or, if there is no surplus, out of net profits for the fiscal year in which the dividend is declared and/or for the preceding fiscal year, as long as the amount of capital of the corporation is not less than the aggregate amount of the capital represented by the issued and outstanding stock of all classes having a preference upon the distribution of assets. Surplus is defined as the excess of a corporation’s net assets (i.e., its total assets minus its total liabilities) over the capital associated with issuances of its common stock. Moreover, the DGCL permits a board of directors to reduce its capital and transfer such amount to its surplus. In determining the amount of surplus of a Delaware corporation, the assets of the corporation, including stock of subsidiaries owned by the corporation, must be valued at their fair market value as determined by the board of directors, regardless of their historical book value.

Our ability to pay cash dividends to our stockholders or to repurchase shares of our common or preferred stock may be limited by certain covenants contained in the indentures governing trust preferred securities issued by us or entities that we have acquired, and the debentures underlying the trust preferred securities. Generally the indentures provide that if an Event of Default (as defined in the indentures) has occurred and is continuing, or if we are in default with respect to any obligations under our guarantee agreement which covers payments of the obligations on the trust preferred securities, or if we give notice of any intention to defer payments of interest on the debentures underlying the trust preferred securities, then we may not, among other restrictions, declare or pay any dividends with respect to our common or preferred stock or repurchase shares of our common or preferred stock.

Notification to the FRB is required prior to our declaring and paying a cash dividend to our stockholders during any period in which our quarterly and/or cumulative twelve‑month net earnings are insufficient to fund the dividend amount, among other requirements. Under such circumstances, we may not pay a dividend should the FRB object until such time as we receive approval from the FRB or no longer need to provide notice under applicable regulations. In addition, prior approval of the FRB may be required in certain circumstances prior to our repurchasing shares of our common stock.

In connection with the decision regarding dividends and share repurchase programs, our Board will take into account general business conditions, our financial results, projected cash flows, capital requirements, contractual, legal and regulatory restrictions on the payment of dividends by the Bank to the Company and such other factors as deemed relevant. We can provide no assurance that we will continue to declare dividends on a quarterly basis or otherwise or to repurchase shares of our common stock. The declaration of dividends by the Company is subject to the discretion of our Board.

PacWest’s primary source of liquidityearnings is the receipt of cash dividends from the Bank. Various statutes and regulations limit the availability of cash dividends from the Bank. Dividends paid by the Bank are regulated by the DFPI and FDIC under their general supervisory authority as it relates to a bank’s capital requirements. The Bank may declare a dividend without the approval of the DFPI and FDIC as long as the total dividends declared in a calendar year do not exceed either the retained earnings or the total of net earnings for three previous fiscal years less any dividend paid during such period. The Bank had a cumulative net loss of $155.3$195.4 million during the three fiscal years of 2022, 2021, 2020, and 20192020 due to the $1.47 billion goodwill impairment in the first quarter of 2020, compared to dividends of $776.0$569.0 million paid by the Bank during that same period. Since the Bank had a retained deficit of $1.5 billion$790.9 million at December 31, 2021,2022, for the foreseeable future, any further cash dividends from the Bank to the Company will continue to require DFPI and FDIC approval.

We are subject to the comprehensive capital framework for U.S. banking organizations known as Basel"Basel III." Basel III, among other things, (i) implemented increased capital levels for the Company and the Bank, (ii) introduced a new capital measure called CET1 and related regulatory capital ratio of CET1 to risk‑weighted assets, (iii) specified that Tier 1 capital consists of CET1 and “Additional Tier 1 capital” instruments meeting certain revised requirements, (iv) mandated that most deductions/adjustments to regulatory capital measures be made to CET1 and not to the other components of capital, and (v) expanded the scope of the deductions from and adjustments to capital as compared to existing regulations. Under Basel III, for most banking organizations, the most common form of Additional Tier 1 capital is non‑cumulative perpetual preferred stock, and the most common form of Tier 2 capital is subordinated notes and a portion of the allowance for credit losses, in each case, subject to Basel III specific requirements.

Basel III also introduced a new “capital conservation buffer”, composed entirely of CET1, on top of the minimum risk‑weighted asset ratios. The capital conservation buffer is designed to absorb losses during periods of economic stress. Banking institutions with a ratio of CET1 to risk‑weighted assets, Tier 1 to risk‑weighted assets or total capital to risk‑weighted assets above the minimum but below the capital conservation buffer will face constraints on dividends, equity repurchases and compensation based on the amount of the shortfall and the institution’s “eligible retained income” (that is, four quarter trailing net income, net of distributions and tax effects not reflected in net income). As of January 1, 2019, the capital conservation buffer iswas fully phased-in and the Company and the Bank are required to maintain an additional capital conservation buffer of 2.5% of CET1, effectively resulting in minimum ratios of (i) CET1 to risk‑weighted assets of at least 7%, (ii) Tier 1 capital to risk‑weighted assets of at least 8.5%, and (iii) total capital to risk‑weighted assets of at least 10.5%.

CET1 capital predominantly includes common stockholders' equity, less goodwill net of any associated deferred tax liabilities. Basel III provides for a number ofcertain other deductions from andor adjustments to CET1. These include, for example, the requirement thatCET1 including intangible assets, net of any associated deferred tax liabilities, deferred tax assets arisingthat arise from temporary differences that could not be realized through net operating loss carrybacks and significant investments in non‑consolidated financial entitiestax credit carry-forwards, net of any related valuation allowances and deferred tax liabilities and other items that may be deducteddeductible from CET1 to the extent that any one such category exceeds 10%capital if they exceed a certain percentage of CET1 or all such items, in the aggregate, exceed 15% of CET1.capital.

Basel III provides a standardized approach for risk weightings that, depending on the nature of the assets, generally range from 0% for U.S. government and agency securities, to 1,250% for certain trading securitization exposures, resulting in higher risk weights for a variety of asset classes than previous regulations.

As required by the FDIA, guidelines adopted by the federal bank regulatory agencies establish general standards relating to internal controls and information systems, internal audit systems, loan documentation, credit underwriting, interest rate exposure, asset growth and quality, and compensation, fees and benefits. The agencies have adopted regulations and interagency guidelines whichthat set forth the safety and soundness standards used to identify and address problems at insured depository institutions before capital becomes impaired. If an agency determines that a bank fails to satisfy any standard, it may require the bank to submit an acceptable plan to achieve compliance, consistent with deadlines for the submission and review of such safety and soundness compliance plans. If an institution fails to submit an acceptable compliance plan or fails in any material respect to implement an acceptable compliance plan, the agency must issue an order directing action to correct the deficiency and may issue an order directing other actions of the types to which an undercapitalized institution is subject under the FDIA.

The Bank is a state‑chartered, “non‑member” bank regulated by the DFPI and the FDIC. The Bank accepts deposits, and those deposits have the benefit of FDIC insurance up to the applicable limits established by law. The applicable statutory limit for FDIC insurance for most types of accounts is $250,000.

Under the FDIC's risk-based deposit premium assessment system, the assessment rates for an insured depository institution are determined by an assessment rate calculator, which is based on a number of elements that measure the risk each institution poses to the FDIC's Deposit Insurance Fund.Fund ("DIF"). The calculated assessment rate is applied to average consolidated assets less the average tangible equity of the insured depository institution during the assessment period to determine the dollar amount of the quarterly assessment. Under the current system, premiums are assessed quarterly and could increase if, for example, criticized loans and leases and/or other higher risk assets increase or balance sheet liquidity decreases. For the year ended December 31, 2021,2022, we incurred $12.0$19.7 million of FDIC assessment expense.

Under the FDIA, the FDIC may terminate deposit insurance upon a finding that the institution has engaged in unsafe and unsound practices, is in an unsafe or unsound condition to continue operations, or has violated any applicable law, regulation, rule, order or condition imposed by the FDIC. In addition, the FDIC is authorized to conduct examinations of and require periodic reporting by FDIC-insured institutions.

In 2010, federal banking regulators issued final joint agency guidance on Sound Incentive Compensation Policies. This guidance applies to executive and non-executive incentive plans administered by the Bank. The guidance notes that incentive compensation programs must (i) provide employees incentives that appropriately balance risk and reward, (ii) be compatible with effective controls and risk management and (iii) be supported by strong corporate governance, including oversight by the Board. The FDIC reviews, as part of its regular examination process, the Bank’s incentive compensation programs.

In addition, the Dodd-Frank Act requires the federal bank regulatory agencies and the SEC to establish joint regulations or guidelines prohibiting incentive basedincentive-based payment arrangements at specified regulated entities having at least $1 billion in total assets, such as the Company and the Bank, that encourage inappropriate risks by providing an executive officer, employee, director or principal stockholder with excessive compensation, fees, or benefits that could lead to material financial loss to the entity. In addition, these regulators must establish regulations or guidelines requiring enhanced disclosure of incentive basedincentive-based compensation arrangements to regulators.

The agencies proposed initial regulations in April 2011 and proposed revised regulations during the second quarter of 2016 that would establish general qualitative requirements applicable to all covered entities. The proposed general qualitative requirements include (i) prohibiting incentive arrangements that encourage inappropriate risks by providing excessive compensation; (ii) prohibiting incentive arrangements that encourage inappropriate risks that could lead to a material financial loss; (iii) establishing requirements for performance measures to appropriately balance risk and reward; (iv) requiring board of director oversight of incentive arrangements; and (v) mandating appropriate record-keeping. As of the date of this filing, the agencies have not finalized these proposed regulations.

In August 2015, the SEC adopted final rules implementing the pay ratio provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act by requiring companies to disclose the ratio of the compensation of its chief executive officer to the median compensation of its employees. Under SEC guidance issued in September 2017, companies such as the Company are able to use widely-recognized tests to determine who counts as an employee under the rule, use existing internal records such as payroll and tax information and describe the ratio as an estimate.

We are subject to a number of federal and state consumer protection laws that extensively govern our relationship with our customers. These laws include the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Truth in Lending Act, the Truth in Savings Act, the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, the Expedited Funds Availability Act, the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, the Fair Housing Act, the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Service Members Civil Relief Act, as well as a general prohibition on engaging in unfair, deceptive, and these laws’ respectiveabusive acts and practices. There are numerous state-law counterparts to many of these laws, as well as state usury laws and laws regarding unfair and deceptive acts and practices.

Violations of applicable consumer protection laws can result in significant potential liability from litigation brought by customers, including actual and statutory damages, restitution and attorneys’ fees. Federal bank regulators, state attorneys general and state and local consumer protection agencies may also seek to enforce consumer protection requirements and obtain these and other remedies, including regulatory sanctions, customer rescission rights, action by the state attorneys general and local prosecutors in each jurisdiction in which we operate, and civil money penalties. Failure to comply with consumer protection regulations may also result in our failure to obtain any required bank regulatory approval for merger or acquisition transactions we may wish to pursue or a prohibition on our prohibition from engagingability to engage in such transactions even if approval is not required.

The CFPB has broad rulemaking, supervisory, and enforcement powers under various federal consumer financial protection laws. The CFPB is also authorized to engage in consumer financial education, track consumer complaints, request data, and promote the availability of financial services to underserved consumers and communities. The Bank is subject to direct oversight and examination by the CFPB with respect to compliance with certain consumer financial laws. The CFPB has broad supervisory, examination, and enforcement authority over various consumer financial products and services, including the ability to require reimbursements and other payments to customers for alleged legal violations and to impose significant penalties, as well as injunctive relief that prohibits lenders from engaging in allegedly unlawful practices. The CFPB also has the authority to obtain cease and desist orders providing for affirmative relief or monetary penalties. State regulation of financial products and potential enforcement actions could also adversely affect our business, financial condition, or results of operations.

The USA PATRIOT Act, designed to deny terrorists and others the ability to obtain access to the United States financial system, has significant implications for depository institutions, brokers, dealers and other businesses involved in the transfer of money. The USA PATRIOT Act, as implemented by various federal regulatory agencies, requires the Company and the Bank to establish and implement policies and procedures with respect to, among other matters, anti‑money laundering, compliance, suspicious activity and currency transaction reporting, and due diligence on customers and prospective customers. The USA PATRIOT Act and its underlying regulations permit information sharing for counter‑terrorism purposes between federal law enforcement agencies and financial institutions, as well as among financial institutions, subject to certain conditions, and require the FRB, the FDIC and other federal banking agencies to evaluate the effectiveness of an applicant in combating money laundering activities when considering a bank holding company acquisition and/or a bank merger actBank Merger Act application.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) drafts regulations implementing the USA PATRIOT Act and other anti-money laundering and Bank Secrecy Act legislation.

We regularly evaluate and continue to enhance our systems and procedures to continue to comply with the USA PATRIOT Act and other anti‑money laundering initiatives. Failure of a financial institution to maintain and implement adequate programs to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, or to comply with all of the relevant laws or regulations, could have serious legal, strategic, and reputational consequences for the institution and result in material fines and sanctions.

The United States has imposed economic sanctions that affect transactions with designated foreign countries, designated nationals and others. These rules are promulgated and administered by OFAC. The OFAC‑administered sanctions targeting designated countries take many different forms. Generally, however, they contain one or more of the following elements: (i) restrictions on trade with or investment in a sanctioned country, including prohibitions against direct or indirect imports from and exports to a sanctioned country and prohibitions on “U.S. persons” engaging in financial transactions relating to making investments in, or providing investment‑related advice or assistance to, a sanctioned country; and (ii) a blocking of assets in which the government or specially designated nationals of the sanctioned country have an interest, by prohibiting transfers of property subject to U.S. jurisdiction (including property in the possession or control of U.S. persons). These sanctions that are applicable to countries and individuals are also imposed against some non-governmental organizations, associations, or other criminal networks. Blocked assets (e.g., property and bank deposits) cannot be paid out, withdrawn, set off or transferred in any manner without a license from OFAC. Failure to comply with these sanctions could have serious legal, strategic, and reputational consequences, and result in civil moneyand criminal penalties against the Company and the Bank.

The CRA and implementing regulations generally requiresrequire the Bank to identify the communities it serves and to make loans and investments, offer products, make donations in, and provide services designed to meet the credit needs of these communities. The CRA also requires the Bank to maintain comprehensive records of its CRA activities to demonstrate how we are meeting the credit needs of our communities. These documents are subject to periodic examination by the FDIC. During these examinations, the FDIC rates such institutions’ compliance with CRA as “Outstanding,” “Satisfactory,” “Needs to Improve” or “Substantial Noncompliance.” The CRA requires the FDIC to take into account the record of a bank in meeting the credit needs of all of the communities served, including low‑and moderate‑income neighborhoods, in determining such rating. Failure of an institution to receive at least a “Satisfactory” rating could inhibit such institution or its holding company from undertaking certain activities, including acquisitions. The Bank received a CRA rating of “Outstanding” as of its most recent examination. In the case of a bank holding company, such as the Company, when applying to acquire a bank, savings association, or a bank holding company, the FRB will assess the CRA record of each depository institution of the applicant bank holding company in considering the application.

The FRB and other bank regulatory agencies have adopted guidelines for safeguarding confidential, personal, non‑public customer information. These guidelines require each financial institution, under the supervision and ongoing oversight of its board of directors or an appropriate committee thereof, to create, implement, and maintain a comprehensive written information security program designed to ensure the security and confidentiality of customer information, protect against any anticipated threats or hazard to the security or integrity of such information, and protect against unauthorized access to or use of such information that could result in substantial harm or inconvenience to any customer. We have adopted a customer information security program to comply with these requirements.

The Gramm‑Leach‑Bliley Act of 1999 (the “GLBA”) requires financial institutions to implement policies and procedures regarding the disclosure of non-public personal information about consumers to non‑affiliated third parties. The GLBA requires disclosures to consumers on policies and procedures regarding the disclosure of such non-public personal information and, except as otherwise required by law, prohibit disclosing such information except as provided in the Bank’s policies and procedures. We have implemented privacy policies addressing these restrictions that are distributed regularly to all existing and new customers of the Bank.

In March 2015, federal regulators issued two related statements regarding cybersecurity. One statement indicates that financial institutions should design multiple layers of security controls to establish lines of defense and to ensure that their risk management processes also address the risk posed by compromised customer credentials, including security measures to reliably authenticate customers accessing Internet-based services of the financial institution. The other statement indicates that a financial institution’s management is expected to maintain sufficient business continuity planning processes to ensure the rapid recovery, resumption and maintenance of the institution’s operations after a cyber-attack involving destructive malware. A financial institution is also expected to develop appropriate processes to enable recovery of data and business operations and address rebuilding network capabilities and restoring data if the institution or its critical service providers fall victim to this type of cyber-attack. If we fail to observe the regulatory guidance, we could be subject to various regulatory sanctions, including financial penalties.

In November 2021, the federal bank regulatory agencies issued a joint rule establishing computer-security incident notification requirements for banking organizations and their service providers. This rule requires new notification requirements where a banking organization experiences a computer-security incident. This rule hashad an effective date of April 1, 2022, and a compliance date of May 1, 2022.

State regulators have been increasingly active in implementing privacy and cybersecurity standards and regulations. Several states have adopted regulations requiring certain financial institutions to implement cybersecurity programs and providing detailed requirements with respect to these programs, including data encryption requirements. Many states have implemented or modified their data breach notification and data privacy requirements, and California and Colorado, which are two states in which we have branch offices, have enacted comprehensive data privacy legislation. In June 2018, the California legislature passed the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (the “CCPA”), which took effect on January 1, 2020. In November 2020, California voters approved the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020, which takestook effect on January 1, 2023. Together, these California acts, which cover businesses that obtain or access personal information on California resident consumers, grant consumers enhanced privacy rights and control over their personal information and imposes significant requirements on covered companies with respect to consumer data privacy rights. InOther states are either considering or have adopted similar privacy legislation. For example, in July 2021, Colorado became the third state – behind California and Virginia – to enact comprehensive data privacy legislation, commonly referred to as the Colorado Privacy Act, which is set to take effect on July 1, 2023. The Colorado Privacy Act is modeled in part off of the CCPA. We expect this trend of state-level activity to continue, and are continually monitoring developments in the states in which we operate. For a further discussion of risks related to privacy and cybersecurity, see "Item 1A. Risk Factors" included in this Form 10-K.

In the course of conducting our business operations, we are exposed to a variety of risks, some of which are inherent in the financial services industry and others of which are more specific to our own businesses. The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened, and in some cases manifested, certainYou should carefully consider all of the risks we normally faceinformation in operatingthis Annual Report on Form 10-K and the following risk factors before making an investment decision regarding our business. The discussion below addresses the most significant factors, of which we are currently aware, that could affect our businesses, results of operations and financial condition. Additional factors that could affect our businesses, results of operations and financial condition are discussed in "Item 1. Business - Forward-Looking Information."securities. However, other factors not discussed below or elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K could adversely affect our businesses,liquidity, cash flows, competitive position, business, reputation, capital position, financial condition, or results of operations and financial condition.operations. Therefore, the Risk Factors belowfollowing risk factors should not be considered a complete list of potential risks we may face.

In the event of an economic recession, our operating results could be adversely affected because we could experienceby higher loan and lease charge-offs and higher operating costs. Global economic conditions also affectmay influence U.S. economic conditions, our customers’ businesses and our operating results because global economic conditions directly influence the U.S. economic conditions.results. Sources of global economic and market instability include, but are not limited to, the potential economic slowdown in United Kingdom, Europe and the United States,internationally, the impact of trade negotiations, economic conditions in China, including the global economic impacts of the Chinese economy, China’s regulation of commerce and management of the COVID-19 pandemic, escalating military tensions in Europe as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic or other health crises.

Various market conditions also affect our operating results. Certain changes in interest rates, inflation, or the financial markets could affect demand for our products. Real estate market conditions directly affect performance of our loans secured by real estate. Debt markets affect the availability of credit, which impacts the rates and terms at which we offer loans and leases. Stock market downturns often signal broader economic deterioration and/or a downward trend in business earnings, which may adversely affect businesses’ ability to raise capital and/or service their debts. Political and electoral changes, developments, conflicts, and conditions have in the past introduced, and may in the future introduce, additional uncertainty, which may also affect our operating results. Concern regarding the ability of the U.S. Government to reach agreement on federal budgetary matters, including the debt ceiling, or prolonged stalemates leading to total or partial governmental shutdowns and potential downgrades of U.S. government securities by credit ratings agencies, can have adverse economic consequences and create the risk of economic instability or market volatility with potential adverse consequences to our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

AnEconomic, market and political instability, or an economic recession or a downturn in various markets, could have one or more of the following adverse effects on our business:

We are dependent on the collection of loan and lease principal, interest, and fees to partially fund our operations. A shortfall in collections and proceeds may impair our ability to fund our operations or to repay our existing debt.

When we loan money, commit to loan money or enter into a letter of credit or other contract with a counterparty, we incur credit risk. The credit quality of our portfolio can have a significant impact on our earnings. We expect to experience charge-offs and delinquencies on our loans and leases in the future. Many borrowers have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and related economic consequences, and may continue to be similarly or more severely affected in the future. Our borrowers'borrowers’ actual operating results may be worse than our underwriting indicated when we originated the loans and leases, and in these circumstances, if timely corrective actions are not taken, we could incur substantial impairment or loss of the value on these loans and leases. We may fail to identify problems because our borrowerborrowers did not report them in a timely manner or, even if the borrowerborrowers did report the problem, we may fail to address itthem quickly enough or at all. Even if borrowers provide us with full and accurate disclosure of all material information concerning their businesses, we may misinterpret or incorrectly analyze this information. Mistakes may cause us to make loans and leases that we otherwise would not have made or to fund advances that we otherwise would not have funded, either of which could result in losses on loans and leases, or necessitate that we significantly increase our allowance for loan and lease losses. As a result, we could suffer loan losses and have nonperforming loans and leases, which could have a material adverse effect on our net earnings and results of operations and financial condition to the extent the losses exceed our allowance for loan and lease losses.

Some of our loans and leases are secured by a lien on specified collateral of the borrower, and we may not obtain or properly perfect our liens, or the value of the collateral securing any particular loan may not protect us from suffering a partial or complete loss if the loan becomes nonperforming and we proceed to foreclose on or repossess the collateral. For instance, declines in the real estate market or sustained economic downturns may cause us to experience credit losses or charge-offs related to our loans, sell loans at unattractive prices or foreclose on certain real estate properties. In such event, we could suffer loan losses, which could have a material adverse effect on our net earnings, allowance for loan and lease losses, financial condition, and results of operations.

The market value of real estate can fluctuate significantly in a short period of time as a result of market conditions in any of our geographic markets. Adverse developments in nationwide or regional market conditions affecting real estate values could negatively impact our commercial real estate loans. Real estate mortgage loans and real estate construction and land loans comprised 64%69% of our total loans and leases at December 31, 2021.2022. Of total loans and leases, 39%38% are secured by real estate collateral located in California, 25%30% are secured by multi-family properties (which includes multi-family construction projects), 12% are secured by collateral for loans originated by Civic, of which 10% are investor-owned residential mortgage loans and 4%2% are construction - renovation loans, and 3% are secured by commercial real estate construction projects. Declines in real estate markets or sustained economic downturns may cause us to experience credit losses or charge-offs related to our loans, or foreclose on certain real estate properties.

For real estate mortgage loans, other than owner-occupied single-family residential real estate mortgage loans, the respective primary and secondary sources of loan repayments are the net operating incomes of the properties and the proceeds from the sales or refinancing of the properties. For real estate construction and land loans, the primary source of loan repayments is the proceeds from the sales or refinancing of the properties following the completion of construction and the stabilization/attainment of sufficient debt service coverage. As such, our commercial real estate borrowers generally are required to refinance the loans with us or another lender or sell the properties to repay our loans. A portion of our real estate loans are secured by residential properties. Decreases in residential property values could lead to increased credit losses for these loans.

At December 31, 2021,2022, there were 1320 individual real estate construction and land commitments greater than or equal to $100 million with the largest commitment being $181$233 million. At December 31, 2021,2022, these 1320 individual commitments totaled $1.6$2.6 billion and had an aggregate outstanding balance of $587$941 million. The projects financed by these commitments are nine14 multi-family projects, two industrial projects, one condominiummedical office project, one mixed use property, one life science office property, one condominium project, and one industrial project.line of credit under which the borrower acquires residential properties that the borrower renovates and sells. For these 1320 commitments, the average commitment to budgeted project cost ratio was 56.4%59.7%.

A significant loss related to one of our large lending relationships or individual commitments could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Changes in the interest rate environment may reduce our profits. It is expected that we will continue to realize income from the differential or "spread"“spread” between the interest earned on loans, securities and other interest-earning assets, and interest paid on deposits, borrowings and other interest-bearing liabilities. Net interest spreads are affected by the differencedifferences between the maturities and repricing characteristics of interest-earning assets and interest-bearing liabilities. Changes in market interest rates generally affect loan volume, loan yields, funding sources and funding costs. Our net interest spread depends on many factors that are partly or completely out of our control, including competition, general economic conditions, inflationary pressures, and federal economic monetary and fiscal policies, and in particular,particularly, the Federal Reserve Board. After steadily increasingpolicies of the target federal funds rate in 2017 and 2018, the Federal Reserve Board in 2019 decreased the target federal funds rate by 75 basis points, and inFRB. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, an additionalthe FRB decreased the target federal funds rate by 150 basis point decreasepoints to a range of 0.00% to 0.25% as of March 31, 2020, where it has remained. A prolonged low interestremained until March 17, 2022. During the course of 2022, robust demand, labor shortages and supply chain constraints have led to persistent inflationary pressures throughout the global economy. In response to these inflationary pressures, the FRB increased the target federal funds rate environment could negatively impact our net interest margin as assets reprice that are not subjectseven times in 2022, and once to interest rate floors. The Federal Reserve Board has signaled that an increasedate in rates is coming but2023, with the exact timing and extent remain unknown and are largely subjectmost recent being January 31, 2023, when the FRB increased the target federal funds by 25 basis points to economic conditions.a range of 4.50% to 4.75%.

While an increaseAlthough these recent increases in interest rates may increase our loan yield, itthey also may adversely affect the ability of certain borrowers with variable-rate loans to pay the contractual interest and principal due to us. Following an increaseincreases in interest rates, our ability to maintain a positive net interest spread is dependent on our ability to increase our loan offering rates, replace loans that mature and repay or that prepay before maturity with new originations, minimize increases on our deposit rates, and maintain an acceptable level and composition of funding. We cannot provide assurances that we will be able to increase our loan offering rates and continue to originate loans due to the competitive landscape in which we operate. Additionally, we cannot provide assurances that we can minimize the increases in our deposit rates while maintaining an acceptable level of deposits. Finally, we cannot provide any assurances that we can maintain our current levels of noninterest-bearing deposits as customers may seek higher-yielding products whenas interest rates continue to increase.

Accordingly, continued changes in levels of interest rates could materially and adversely affect our net interest margin, asset quality, loan origination volume, average loan portfolio balance, deposit balances, liquidity, and overall profitability.

Although we are currently unable to assess the ultimate impact of the transition from LIBOR, the failure to adequately manage the transition could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The fair market value of our investment securities may be adversely affected by general economic and market conditions, including changes in interest rates, credit spreads, and the occurrence of any events adversely affecting the issuer of particular securities in our investments portfolio or any given market segment or industry in which we are invested. We analyze our securities, alla portion of which areis classified as available-for-sale, on a quarterly basis to measure any impairment losses. We also analyze our securities classified as held-to-maturity, on a quarterly basis, to measure currently expected credit losses. The process for determining impairment losses and currently expected credit losses usually requires complex, subjective judgments about the future financial performance of the issuer in order to assess the probability of receiving principal and interest payments sufficient to recover our amortized cost of the security. Because of changing economic and market conditions affecting issuers, we may be required to recognize credit losses in future periods, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, orand results of operations.

The Company and the Bank are each subject to capital adequacy and liquidity rules and other regulatory requirements specifying minimum amounts and types of capital that must be maintained. From time to time, the regulators implement changes to these regulatory capital adequacy and liquidity guidelines. If we fail to meet these minimum capital and liquidity guidelines and other regulatory requirements, we may be restricted in the types of activities we may conduct and may be prohibited from taking certain capital actions, such as making TruPS payments, or paying executive bonuses or dividends, andor repurchasing or redeeming capital securities.

We are required by federal and state regulators to maintain adequate levels of capital. We may need to raise additional capital in the future to meet federal and state regulatory or other internal requirements. As a publicly traded company, a likely source of additional funds is the capital markets, accomplished generally through the issuance of equity, both common and preferred stock, and the issuance of subordinated debt. OurLimitations on our ability to raise additional capital, if needed, will depend on,may include, among other things, rising interest rates and other conditions in the capital markets at that time, which are outside of our control, and our financial performance.

We cannot provide any assurance that access to such capital will be available to us on acceptable terms or at all. Any occurrence that may limit our access to the capital markets, such as a decline in the confidence of debt purchasers or counter-parties participating in the capital markets, may materially and adversely affect our capital costs and our ability to raise capital and, in turn, our liquidity. Further, if we need to raise capital in the future, we may have to do so when many other financial institutions are also seeking to raise capital and would then have to compete with those institutions for investors. The inability to raise additional capital on acceptable terms when needed could have a materiallymaterial adverse effect on our business, financial condition, orand results of operations.

The banking industry is extensively regulated and supervised under both federal and state laws and regulations that are intended primarily for the protection of depositors, customers, federal deposit insurance funds and the banking system as a whole, not for the protection of our stockholders and creditors. The Company is subject to regulation and supervision by the FRB, and the Bank is subject to regulation and supervision primarily by the FDIC, the DFPI, and the CFPB.

The laws and regulations applicable to us govern a variety of matters, including, but not limited to, permissible types, amounts and terms of loans and investments we make, the maximum interest rate that may be charged, our ability to charge overdraft and account fees, consumer disclosures on the products and services we offer, community reinvestment and fair lending requirements, the amount of reserves we must hold against our customers'customers’ deposits, the types of deposits we may accept and the rates we may pay on such deposits, the establishment of new branch offices by the Bank, maintenance of adequate capital and liquidity, and restrictions on dividends and stock repurchases.

We must obtain approval from our regulators before engaging in certain activities, including certain acquisitions, and there can be no assurance that any regulatory approvals we may require will be obtained, or obtained without conditions, either in a timely manner or at all. Our regulators have the ability to compel us to, or restrict us from, taking certain actions entirely, such as actions that our regulators deem to constitute unsafe or unsound banking practice.practices. While we have policies and procedures designed to prevent violations of the extensive federal and state regulations that we are subject to, any failure to comply with any applicable laws or regulations, or regulatory policies and interpretations of such laws and regulations, could result in investigations or reviews, regulatory enforcement actions, civil monetaryand criminal penalties, or damage to our reputation, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, orand results of operation.

Regulations affecting banks and other financial institutions are undergoingundergo continuous review and frequently change. The ultimate effect of such changes cannot be predicted. Because our business is highly regulated, compliance with such regulations and laws may increase our costs and limit our ability to pursue business opportunities. There can be no assurance that laws, rules, and regulations, including any future government stabilization program, will not be proposed or adopted in the future, which could (i) subject us to additional restrictions, (ii) make compliance much more difficult or expensive, (iii) restrict our ability to originate broker, or sell loans or accept certain deposits, (iv) further limit or restrict the amount of commissions, interest, or other charges earned on loans originated or sold, or (v) otherwise materially and adversely affect our business or prospects for business. While new legislation in 2018 scaled back portions of the Dodd-Frank Act, the new administration in the United States may adopt, enhance or modify bank regulation, and any such new, enhanced or modified regulations could adversely affect our financial condition or results of operations.

Our financial performance is impacted by federal and state tax laws. Given the current economic and political environment, and ongoing budgetary pressures, the enactment of new federal or state tax legislation or new interpretations of existing tax laws could occur.adversely impact our tax position, in some circumstances retroactively. The Inflation Reduction Act (the “IRA”), which establishes a new 15 percent corporate alternative minimum tax on adjusted book income (of corporations that have an average adjusted book income in excess of $1 billion over a three tax year period) for tax years beginning after December 31, 2022, may impact the Company’s cash tax payments and tax credit carryforward balances. The IRA also includes a nondeductible one percent excise tax on certain repurchases of corporate stock for transactions occurring in taxable years after December 31, 2022, which would likely increase the Company’s cost of any future share repurchases. The consequences of the IRA, the enactment of suchnew federal or state tax legislation, or changes in the interpretation of existing law, including provisions impacting income tax rates, apportionment, consolidation or combination, income, expenses, and credits, may have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations, and liquidity.

In the normal course of business, we are routinely subjected to examinations and audits from federal, state, and local taxing authorities regarding tax positions taken by us and the determination of the amount of taxes due. These examinations may relate to income, franchise, gross receipts, payroll, property, sales and use, or other tax returns. The challenges made by taxing authorities may result in adjustments to the amount of taxes due, and may result in the imposition of penalties and interest. If any such challenges are not resolved in our favor, they could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations, and liquidity.

We and certain of our directors, officers, and subsidiaries may beare involved, from time to time, in reviews, investigations, litigation, and other proceedings pertaining to our business activities. In difficult market conditions, the volume of claims and amount of damages sought in litigation and regulatory proceedings against financial institutions have historically increased. If claims or legal actions, whether founded or unfounded, are not resolved in a favorable manner to us, they may result in significant financial liability. Although we establish accruals for legal matters when and as required by U.S. GAAP and certain expenses and liabilities in connection with such matters may be covered by insurance, liabilities associated with legal risks are frequently difficult to assess and quantify, and the amount of loss ultimately incurred in relation to those matters may be substantially higher than the amounts accrued and/or insured. Substantial legal liability could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and reputation.

We are subject to various privacy, information security and data protection laws and regulations, such as the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act,GLBA, which among other things requires privacy disclosures and maintenance of a robust security program that are increasingly subject to change which could have a significant impact on our current and planned privacy, data protection and information security-related practices, our collection, use, sharing, retention and safeguarding of consumer or employee information, and some of our current or planned business activities.

We may face increased privacy-related enforcement activity. Our regulators alsomay hold us responsible for privacy and data protection obligations performed by our third-partythird party service providers while providing services to us.

Should competition in the financial services industry intensify, our ability to market our products and services may be adversely affected. If we are unable to attract and retain banking customers, we may be unable to grow or maintain the levels of our loans and deposits and our results of operations and financial condition may be adversely affected as a result.deposits. Ultimately, we may not be able to compete successfully against current and future competitors.competitors, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Damage to our reputation could undermine the confidence of our current and potential customers and investors in our ability to provide high-quality financial services. Such damage could also impair the confidence of our counterparties and vendors and ultimately affect our ability to effect transactions. Maintenance of our reputation depends not only on our success in maintaining our service-focused culture and controlling and mitigating the various risks described herein, but also on our success in identifying and appropriately addressing issues that may arise in areas such as potential conflicts of interest, anti-money laundering, client personal information and privacy issues, customer and other third-partythird party fraud, record-keeping, technology-related issues including but not limited to cyber fraud, corporate governance, regulatory investigations and any litigation that may arise from the failure or perceived failure to comply with legal and regulatory requirements. Defense of our reputation, trademarks, and other intellectual property, including through litigation, also could result in costs that could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, orand results of operations.

Our ability to execute our strategic initiativesacquisitions successfully will depend on a variety of factors. These factors likely will vary based on the nature of the initiativeacquisition but may include our success in integrating the operations, services, products, personnel and systems of an acquired company into our business, operating effectively with any partner with whom we elect to do business, retaining key employees, achieving anticipated synergies, meeting expectations and otherwise realizing the undertaking'sundertaking’s anticipated benefits. Our ability to address these matters successfully cannot be assured. In addition, our strategic initiativesacquisitions and potential acquisitions may divert resources or management'smanagement’s attention from ongoing business operations and may subject us to additional regulatory scrutiny. If we do not successfully execute a strategic undertaking,an acquisition, it could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, reputation, regulatory relationships and growth prospects. To the extent we issue capital stock in connection with future acquisitions, these transactions may be dilutive to tangible book value and will dilute share ownership.

Although we devote significant resources to maintain the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information belonging to the Company and our customers, there is no assurance that our security measures will be effective against all types of cyber-attacks. Our Information Security and Information Technology teams regularly update our systems and processes that are designed to protect the security of our computer systems, software, networksand networks. We regularly conduct Incident Response exercises to ensure our staff is prepared to execute their roles and responsibilities in the event of a real incident.

A successful penetration or circumventionbreach of the security of our systems, including those ofaffecting our third-partythird party vendors, contractors, and customers, could cause serious negative consequences, including significant disruption of our operations, misappropriationtheft of confidential information, or damage to computers or systems, and may result in violations of applicable privacy and other laws, financial loss, loss of confidence in our security measures, customer dissatisfaction, increased insurance premiums, significant litigation exposure and harm to our reputation, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and future prospects. In addition, although we maintain insurance coverage that may (subject to certain conditions), cover certain aspects of cyber and information security risks, such insurance coverage may be insufficient to cover all losses, such as litigation costs or financial losses that exceed our policy limits or are not covered under any of our current insurance policies.

As climate risk is interconnected with all key risk types, we are enhancing processes to embed climate risk considerations into our risk management strategies established for risks such as market, credit, reputational, strategic and operational risks; however, because the timing and severity of climate change may not be predictable, our risk management strategies may not be effective in mitigating climate risk exposure. In addition, our reputation and client relationships may be damaged as a result of our practices related to climate change, including our involvement, or our clients’ involvement, in certain industries or projects perceived to be associated with causing or exacerbating climate change, as well as any decisions we make to continue to conduct or change our activities in response to considerations relating to climate change. In the future, we may also become subject to new or heightened regulatory requirements related to climate change, such as requirements relating to operational resiliency or stress testingscenario analysis for various climate stress scenarios.peril scenarios and the SEC’s proposed rule regarding climate-related disclosures. Any new or heightened requirements could result in increased regulatory compliance or other costs or higher capital requirements.

The risks associated with, and the perspective of regulators, shareholders,stockholders, employees and other stakeholders regarding climate change are continuing to evolve rapidly, which can make it difficult to assess the ultimate impact on us of climate change-related risks and uncertainties, and we expect that climate change-related risks will increase over time. Currently, there are no existing regulations applicable to us related to climate risk, as suchand we have not performed a climate risk impact assessment.

We have made a number of estimates and assumptions relating to the reporting of assets and liabilities, and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities, at the date of the consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting period to prepare thesethe Company’s consolidated financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP. Actual results could differ from these estimates. Material estimates subject to change include, among other items, the allowance for credit losses, the carrying value of goodwill or other intangible assets;assets, the fair value estimates of certain assets and liabilities;liabilities, and the realization of deferred tax assets and liabilities. These estimates may be adjusted as more current information becomes available, and any adjustment may be significant.

Not applicable.

The following chart compares the yearly percentage change in the cumulative stockholder return on our common stock based on the closing price during the five years ended December 31, 2021,2022, with (1) the Total Return Index for U.S. companies traded on The Nasdaq Stock Market (the “Nasdaq Composite Index”), and (2) the Total Return Index for KBW Nasdaq Regional Bank Stocks (the “KBW Regional Banking Index”). This comparison assumes $100 was invested on December 31, 2016,2017, in our common stock and the comparison groups and assumes the reinvestment of all cash dividends prior to any tax effect and retention of all stock dividends. The Company's total cumulative return was 4.39%(43.35)% over the five year period ending December 31, 20212022 compared to returns of 204.85%58.65% and 29.65%18.59% for the Nasdaq Composite Index and KBW Regional Banking Index.

Reserved.

PacWest Bancorp, a Delaware corporation, is a bank holding company registered under the BHCA and headquartered in Los Angeles, California, with our corporate headquarters locatedan executive office in Beverly Hills, California.Denver, Colorado. Our principal business is to serve as the holding company for our wholly-owned subsidiary, Pacific Western Bank. References to “Pacific Western”"Pacific Western" or the “Bank”"Bank" refer to Pacific Western Bank together with its wholly-owned subsidiaries. References to “we,” “us,”"we," "us," or the “Company”"Company" refer to PacWest Bancorp together with its subsidiaries on a consolidated basis. When we refer to “PacWest”"PacWest" or to the “holding"holding company,”" we are referring to PacWest Bancorp, the parent company, on a stand-alone basis.

The Bank is a relationship-based community bank focused on relationship-basedproviding business banking and treasury management services to small, middle-market, and venture-backed businesses nationwide.businesses. The Bank offers a broad range of loan and lease and deposit products and services through 69 full-service branches located inthroughout California one branch locatedand in Durham, North Carolina one branch located inand Denver, Colorado, and numerous loan production offices acrossaround the country. The Bank provides community banking products including lending and comprehensive deposit and treasury management services to small and medium-sized businesses conducted primarily through our California-based branch offices and Denver, Colorado branch office. The Bank offers national lending products including asset-based, equipment, and real estate loans and treasury management services to established middle-market businesses on a national basis. The Bank also provides venture banking products including a comprehensive suite of financial services focused on entrepreneurial and venture-backed businesses and their venture capital and private equity investors, with offices located in key innovation hubs across the United States. The Bank also offers financing of business-purpose non-owner-occupied investor properties through Civic, a wholly-owned subsidiary. The Bank also provides a specialized suite of services for the HOA industry. In addition, we provide investment advisory and asset management services to select clients through Pacific Western Asset Management Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Bank and an SEC-registered investment adviser.

At December 31, 2021,2022, the Company had total liabilities of $36.4$37.3 billion, including total deposits of $35.0$33.9 billion and subordinated debtborrowings of $863.3 million,$1.8 billion, compared to $25.9$36.4 billion of total liabilities, including $24.9$35.0 billion of total deposits and $465.8 million of subordinated debtno borrowings at December 31, 2020.2021. The $10.5 billion$834.7 million increase inin total liabilities since year-end 20202021 was due mainly to increases of $10.1$1.3 billion in totalsecured FHLB borrowings, $1.7 billion in wholesale non-maturity deposits, and $397.5$3.4 billion in time deposits, offset partially by a decrease of $6.2 billion in core deposits. The decrease in core deposits by component was due to decreases of $3.3 billion in noninterest-bearing demand deposits, $2.5 billion in money market deposits, $329.5 million in subordinated debt. The increaseinterest checking deposits, and $53.0 million in total deposits was due primarily to continued strong deposit growth from our venture banking and community banking clients and the acquisition of the HOA Business, which added $4.1 billion ofsavings deposits. At December 31, 2021,2022, core deposits totaled $32.7$26.6 billion, or 93%78% of total deposits, including $14.5$11.2 billion of noninterest-bearing demand deposits, or 41%33% of total deposits. The increase in subordinated debt was due to the $400 million of subordinated notes issued by the Bank on April 30, 2021. The subordinated notes qualify as Tier 2 capital for regulatory capital purposes.

On February 15,September 29, 2022, PacWest's Board of Directors authorized a new Stock Repurchase Program, effective March 1, 2022, to repurchase shares of its common stock for an aggregate purchase price not to exceed $100 million with a program maturity date of February 28, 2023.

Among other factors, our operating results generally depend on the following key performance indicators:

Net interest income is the excess of interest earned on our interest-earning assets over the interest paid on our interest-bearing liabilities. Net interest margin is net interest income (annualized if related to a quarterly period) expressed as a percentage of average interest-earning assets. Tax equivalent net interest income is net interest income increased by an adjustment for tax-exempt interest on certain loans and investment securities based on a 21% federal statutory tax rate. Tax equivalent net interest margin is calculated as tax equivalent net interest income divided by average interest-earning assets.

Net interest income is affected by changes in both interest rates and the volume of average interest-earning assets and interest-bearing liabilities. Our primary interest-earning assets are loans and investment securities, and our primary interest-bearing liabilities are deposits and borrowings. Contributing to our strong net interest margin is our strong yield on loans and leases and competitiveconcentration of lower cost ofcore deposits. While our deposit balances will fluctuate depending on deposit holders’ perceptions of alternative yields available in theour customers’ liquidity and cash flow, market conditions, and competitive pressures, we seek to minimize the impact of these variances by attracting a high percentage of noninterest-bearing deposits. During 2022, our net interest margin was negatively impacted because we accessed the wholesale funding market to replace outflows of core deposits.

We actively seek new lending opportunities under an array of lending products. Our lending activities include real estate mortgage loans, real estate construction and land loans, commercial loans and leases, and a small amount of consumer lending. Our commercial real estate loans and real estate construction loans are secured by a range of property types. Our commercial loans and leases portfolio is diverse and generally includes various asset-secured loans, equipment-secured loans and leases, venture capital loans to support venture capital firms’ operations and the operations of entrepreneurial and venture-backed companies during the various phases of their early life cycles, and secured business loans.

We emphasize credit quality in originating and monitoring our loans and leases, and we measure our success by the levels of our classified loans and leases, nonaccrual loans and leases, and net charge-offs. We maintain an allowance for credit losses on loans and leases, which is the sum of the allowance for loan and lease losses and the reserve for unfunded loan commitments. Provisions for credit losses are charged to operations as and when needed for both on and off-balance sheet credit exposures. Loans and leases that are deemed uncollectable are charged off and deducted from the allowance for loan and lease losses. Recoveries on loans and leases previously charged off are added to the allowance for loan and lease losses. The provision for credit losses on the loan and lease portfolio is based on our allowance methodology, which considers the impact of assumptions and is reflective of historical experience, economic forecasts viewed to be reasonable and supportable by management, the current loan and lease composition, and relative credit risks known as of the balance sheet date. For originated and acquired credit-deteriorated loans, a provision for credit losses may be recorded to reflect credit deterioration after the origination date or after the acquisition date, respectively.

Our noninterest expense includes fixed and controllable overhead, the largest components of which are compensation and occupancy expense. It also includes costs that tend to vary based on the volume of activity, such as loan and lease production and the number and complexity of foreclosed assets. We measure success in controlling both fixed and variable costs through monitoring of the efficiency ratio, which is calculated by dividing noninterest expense (less intangible asset amortization, net foreclosed assets expense (income), goodwill impairment, and acquisition, integration and reorganization costs) by net revenues (the sum of tax equivalent net interest income plus noninterest income, less gain (loss) on sale of securities and gain (loss) on sales of assets other than loans and leases).