BASIS OF PRESENTATION

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2012

BASIS OF PRESENTATION

BASIS OF PRESENTATION

NOTE 1—BASIS OF PRESENTATION

        PacWest Bancorp is a bank holding company registered under the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, as amended. Our principal business is to serve as a holding company for our banking subsidiary, Pacific Western Bank, which we refer to as Pacific Western or the Bank. When we say "we", "our" or the "Company", we mean the Company on a consolidated basis with the Bank. When we refer to "PacWest" or to the holding company, we are referring to the parent company on a stand-alone basis.

        Pacific Western is a full-service commercial bank offering a broad range of banking products and services including: accepting demand, money market, and time deposits; originating loans, including commercial, real estate construction, SBA guaranteed and consumer loans; and providing other business-oriented products. Our operations are primarily located in Southern California extending from California's Central Coast to San Diego County; we also operate three banking offices in the San Francisco Bay area, all of which were added through the FDIC-assisted acquisition of Affinity Bank, or Affinity, in August 2009. The Bank focuses on conducting business with small to medium sized businesses in our marketplace and the owners and employees of those businesses. The majority of our loans are secured by the real estate collateral of such businesses. Our asset-based lending function operates in Arizona, California, Texas, and the Pacific Northwest. Our equipment leasing function, added through the acquisition of Pacific Western Equipment Finance, or PWE Finance, (formerly Marquette Equipment Finance) on January 3, 2012, is based in Utah and has lease receivables in 45 states.

        We generate our revenue primarily from interest received on loans and leases and, to a lesser extent, from interest received on investment securities, and fees received in connection with deposit services, extending credit and other services offered, including foreign exchange services. Our major operating expenses are the interest paid by the Bank on deposits and borrowings, compensation and general operating expenses. The Bank relies on a foundation of locally generated and relationship-based deposits. The Bank has a relatively low cost of funds due to a high percentage of noninterest-bearing and low cost deposits.

        We have completed 24 acquisitions since May 2000, including PWE Finance and the April 3, 2012 acquisition of Celtic Capital Corporation, or Celtic, an asset-based lending company based in Santa Monica, California. See Note 2, Aquisitions, for more information about the PWE Finance acquisition and Note 14, Subsequent Events, for more information regarding the Celtic acquisition.

• Basis of Presentation

        The accounting and reporting policies of the Company are in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, which we may refer to as GAAP. All significant intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated.

        Our financial statements reflect all adjustments that are, in the opinion of management, necessary to present a fair statement of the results for the interim periods presented. Certain information and note disclosures normally included in consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP have been condensed or omitted pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission. The interim operating results are not necessarily indicative of operating results for the full year.

• Use of Estimates

        Management of the Company has 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 these consolidated financial statements in conformity with GAAP. Actual results could differ from those estimates. Material estimates subject to change in the near term include, among other items, the allowances for credit losses, the carrying value of other real estate owned, the carrying value of intangible assets, the carrying value of the FDIC loss sharing asset and the realization of deferred tax assets.

        Management made significant estimates and exercised significant judgment in estimating fair values and accounting for the acquired assets and assumed liabilities in the PWE Finance acquisition.

• Reclassifications

        Certain prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current period's presentation format. During the second quarter of 2011, we reclassified recoveries on covered loans such that recoveries now reduce the credit loss provision for covered loans rather than increase FDIC loss sharing income. Such reclassifications had no effect on reported net earnings or losses.