NOTE 17. STOCK BASED COMPENSATION PLANS

The Company’s 2003 Stock Incentive Plan, or the 2003 Plan, permits stock-based compensation awards to officers, directors, key employees and consultants. As of December 31, 2014, the 2003 Plan authorized grants of stock‑based compensation instruments to purchase or issue up to 19,686,565 shares of Company common stock, subject to adjustments provided by the 2003 Plan. The authorized amount includes 10,686,565 shares that were added to the 2003 Plan as a result of the CapitalSource Inc. merger. Such shares were available for grant under the former CapitalSource Inc. Equity Incentive Plan and remain available for: (a) former employees of CapitalSource Bank who remain employed with the Company, and (b) newly hired employees of the Company. As of December 31, 2014, there were 13,531,719 shares available for grant under the 2003 Plan, of which 10,107,039 shares related to those added from the CapitalSource Inc. merger.

Restricted Stock

The following table presents a summary of restricted stock transactions for the years indicated:



	Number of Shares		Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value (Per Share)
Unvested restricted stock, December 31, 2011	1,675,730		$	30.53
Granted	226,400		23.77
Shares issued by the Company upon vesting	(195,871	)	21.69
Forfeited	(7,978	)	22.31
Unvested restricted stock, December 31, 2012	1,698,281		30.68
Granted	673,900		29.06
Shares issued by the Company upon vesting	(819,461	)	24.84
Forfeited	(336,196	)	48.92
Unvested restricted stock, December 31, 2013	1,216,524		28.69
Granted	1,129,805		40.37
Shares issued by the Company upon vesting	(1,183,024	)	28.53
Forfeited	(54,800	)	38.97
Unvested restricted stock, December 31, 2014	1,108,505		$	40.37

At December 31, 2014, there were 1,108,505 shares of unvested time‑based restricted common stock outstanding. The awarded shares of time‑based restricted common stock vest over a service period of three to four years from the date of the grant. The time-based restricted common stock also vests immediately upon a change in control of the Company, as defined in the 2003 Plan, or upon death of the employee. In April 2014, upon closing of the CapitalSource Inc. merger, 1,013,377 of awarded shares of restricted common stock vested due to the triggering of the change of control provision contained within the 2003 Plan. We recorded a $26.1 million charge to earnings for the vesting of such shares. Such amount is included in acquisition, integration and reorganization costs on the accompanying consolidated statements of earnings in the second quarter of 2014. The vesting date fair values of restricted stock awards that vested during 2014, 2013 and 2012 were $53.4 million, $30.9 million and $4.5 million.

Compensation expense related to time‑based restricted stock awards is based on the fair value of the underlying stock on the award date and is recognized over the vesting period using the straight‑line method. Restricted stock amortization totaled $9.8 million (excluding accelerated vesting of restricted stock of $26.1 million), $8.5 million (excluding accelerated vesting of restricted stock of $12.4 million), and $5.7 million for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012. Such amounts are included in compensation expense on the accompanying consolidated statements of earnings. The income tax benefit recognized in the consolidated statements of earnings related to this expense was $3.9 million, $3.4 million and $2.2 million for the 2014, 2013 and 2012.

The amount of unrecognized compensation expense related to all unvested restricted stock as of December 31, 2014 totaled $36.0 million. Such expense is expected to be recognized over a weighted average period of 1.6 years.

The following table summarizes information about outstanding time-based restricted stock awards as of the date indicated:



	December 31, 2014
		Weighted				Weighted
		Average		Weighted		Average
	Number	Grant Date		Average		Remaining
	of Shares	Fair Value		Fair Value⁽¹⁾		Contractual
	Outstanding	(Per Share)		(In thousands)		Life (Years)
Time-based restricted stock granted in:
2013	27,000	$	35.08	$	1,228	1.6
2014	1,081,505	$	40.37	49,165		1.6
Outstanding time-based restricted stock awards	1,108,505	$	40.37	$	50,393	1.6

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(1)	Determined using the $45.46 closing price of PacWest common stock on December 31, 2014.