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[ad_1] In what is by now a familiar pattern, the fate of another regional lender hangs in the balance as investors bail from the sector following the sudden collapse of three prominent banks in a matter of weeks.  Shares of PacWest Bancorp crumbled after the close of trading on Wednesday, diving 55% to $2.88 amid a report by Bloomberg News that the $44 billion bank is weighing its strategic options, including a possible sale. The market drop followed a 28% plunge in Los Angeles-based PacWest's stock price the previous day.  PacWest, whose shares are down 78% over the last three months, has hired a financial adviser and is also considering a breakup or trying to raise capital, according to Bloomberg. Wall Street has grown increasingly wary of midsize lenders since the March 10 collapse of Silicon Valley Bank  (SVB) and the failure only days later of Signature Bank after depositors rushed to withdraw their money.  As investors soured...

[ad_1] JPMorgan Chase's move to acquire most of First Republic Bank's assets  this week hasn't stemmed investor concerns about the financial prospects for other regional lenders. The stock prices of Comerica, PacWest Bancorp, Western Alliance Bank and Zions Bank shares fell sharply Tuesday as attention shifted to other financial players that could be at risk of the startling bank runs that have taken down First Republic, Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in recent weeks.  "Wall Street is quickly hitting the sell button as banking turmoil appears it is not going away anytime soon and is ready to focus on the next weakest link — potentially distressed lenders with tremendous exposure to commercial real estate," Edward Moya, a senior market analyst at Oanda, said in a research note. Shares of Los Angeles-based PacWest, with $44 billon in assets, plunged 28%, while $65 billion Western Alliance tumbled 15%. The KBW...

[ad_1] During the 2008 financial crisis, so-called too-big-to-fail banks were deemed too large and too intertwined with the U.S. economy for the government to allow them to collapse despite their role in causing the subprime loan crash. Yet 15 years later, the forced sale of 166-year-old Credit Suisse — one of 30 banks around the world designated by regulators as "globally significant," as well as the startling failure of regional lender Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) — are rekindling concerns about the risk of financial institutions defined as too big to fail.  One thing that's changed in the intervening years since the housing bust: The nation's largest banks have only grown larger. JPMorgan Chase now has $2.6 billion in assets, a 16% increase from 2008, while Bank of America's assets have jumped 69% to $3.1 trillion. At the same time, lawmakers in 2018 weakened the post-crisis regulations enacted in what came to be known as Dodd-Frank, a sweeping law pa...

[ad_1] First Republic Bank was teetering for weeks before it was seized  early Monday by regulators, who then accepted a bid from banking giant JPMorgan Chase to acquire almost all of its assets.  That move is leading to a host of questions about what happens next, such as the sale's impact on depositors and shareholders.  Here's what to know about the bank's collapse. Why did First Republic Bank collapse? The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation took over First Republic early Monday because the regulator had determined that the bank was conducting its business in an "unsound manner." The California regulator then appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as the bank's receiver. The collapse follows the March seizure by regulators of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, both of which had experienced bank runs.  Like Silicon Valley Bank, a significant share of...