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. The credit union was renamed to the Pacific Trust FederalCredit Union in 1995, which itself was renamed to the Pacific Trust Bank in 2000, becoming a mutually owned federal savings bank. The Pacific Trust Bank was made into a subsidiary of First PacTrust Bancorp Inc. in 2002. In 2013, the company's two banking subsidiaries, Pacific Trust Bank and The Private Bank of California, were merged to form the Banc of California. The bank also hired former Los Angeles mayorAntonio Villaraigosa as a strategic advisor. In 2014, Banc of California bought 20 bank branches in Southern California from Popular, Inc., a Puerto Rico-based bank, for $5.4 million. The move doubled the number of branches the bank owned and brought its assets to $5 billion. On January 23, 2017, CEO Steven Sugarman resigned amid an investigation by the Securities Exchange Commission over the bank's alleged links to a convicted fraudster. An internal investigation by the bank found no legal issues, but attracted criticism from the CalSTRS over its poor oversight of deals signed that benefited Sugarman and his associates. After Sugarman's resignation, the bank shifted its focus from growth to profitability, including laying off 139 workers at its corporate offices. As of September 2017, financial analysts had cut Banc of California's earnings estimates per share, despite the new strategy's focus on profitability.
Sponsorships
Since 2014, the bank has been the official bank of the USC Trojans, the athletic program of the University of Southern California. In 2016, the Banc of California announced a partnership with Los Angeles FC, an upcoming Major League Soccer franchise, and a 15-year, $100 million deal with the club for the naming rights to their stadium Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles, scheduled to open 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.
