Banc of California is a

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

serving the state of

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

with over 30 branches in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

, extending from San Diego to Santa Barbara. The bank is headquartered in

Santa Ana, California Santa Ana () is the second most populous city and the county seat of Orange County, California. Located in the Greater Los Angeles region of Southern California, the city's population was 310,227 at the 2020 census, making Santa Ana the List of ...

in Orange County, with over 600 employees and 36 offices.

History

The Banc of California was founded in 1941 as the Rohr Employees Federal Credit Union, serving employees of the Rohr Aircraft plant in

Chula Vista, California Chula Vista (; ) is the second-largest city in the San Diego metropolitan area, the Largest cities in Southern California, seventh largest city in Southern California, the List of largest California cities by population, fifteenth largest city ...

. The

credit union A credit union, a type of financial institution similar to a commercial bank, is a member-owned nonprofit organization, nonprofit financial cooperative. Credit unions generally provide services to members similar to retail banks, including depo ...

was renamed the Pacific Trust Federal Credit Union in 1995, which itself was renamed the Pacific Trust Bank in 2000, becoming a mutually owned

federal savings bank Federal savings associations (also called "federal thrifts" or "federal Savings Banks"), in the United States, are institutions chartered by the Office of Thrift Supervision which is now administered by Office of the Comptroller of the Currency a ...

. The Pacific Trust Bank was made into a

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a s ...

of First PacTrust Bancorp Inc. in 2002. First PacTrust Bancorp, Inc. and Beach Business Bank completed their merger in 2012. The company's two banking subsidiaries, Pacific Trust Bank and The Private Bank of California, were merged to form the Banc of California in 2013. The bank also hired former Los Angeles mayor

Antonio Villaraigosa Antonio Ramón Villaraigosa (; né Villar Jr.; born January 23, 1953) is an American politician who served as the 41st Mayor of Los Angeles from 2005 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Villaraigosa was a national co-chairman of Hillary ...

as a strategic advisor. Banc of California bought 20 bank branches in Southern California from

Popular, Inc. Popular, Inc., doing business as Banco Popular in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and as Popular Bank in the mainland United States, is a financial services conglomerate that has operated in Puerto Rico for over 125 years and in the mainland ...

, a

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

-based bank, for $5.4 million in 2014. The move doubled the number of branches the bank owned and brought its assets to $5 billion. Jared Wolff took over as President and CEO of Banc of California in March 2019, succeeding Doug Bowers. Bowers had assumed the role in 2017, following founding CEO Steven Sugarman. Banc of California announced the acquisition of Pacific Mercantile Bank in March 2021 in a transaction valued at $235 million.

Sponsorships

Since 2014, the bank has been the official bank of the

USC Trojans The USC Trojans are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC), located in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ' ...

, the athletic program of the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

. In 2016, the Banc of California announced a partnership with

Los Angeles FC Los Angeles Football Club, commonly referred to as LAFC, is an American professional Association football team based in Los Angeles. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The club ...

, a

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

franchise, and a 15-year, $100 million deal with the club for the

naming rights Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization whereby a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event, typically for a defined period of t ...

to their stadium

Banc of California Stadium Banc of California Stadium is a soccer-specific stadium in the Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It is the home of Major League Soccer's Los Angeles FC and the National Women's Soccer League's Angel City FC. Opened on A ...

in Los Angeles, which opened in 2018. The deal was described as "a little out of the mold for a bank of our size" by then-CEO Steven Sugarman, with other observers noting that the bank was not well known nationally. The company paid $20 million for early termination of the naming rights deal in 2020, citing a shift in focus. Banc of California remains LAFC’s primary banking partner and continues to collaborate with the franchise on various initiatives.

References

External links

Official website
{{Portal, Banks American companies established in 1941 Banks established in 1941 Banks based in California Financial services companies based in California Companies based in Irvine, California Companies listed on the Nasdaq