Haeggquist & Eck Investigates Breach of Fiduciary Duty and Self-Dealing by Banc of California Directors
September 29 2017 - 5:54PM
Business Wire
Haeggquist & Eck, LLP, a leading shareholder rights
litigation firm, announces that a shareholder derivative lawsuit
was filed this week against certain directors of Banc of
California, Inc. (“Banc” or the “Company”) (NYSE: BANC) alleging
breach of their fiduciary duties. Banc provides commercial banking
and home lending services in California.
On October 18, 2016, a blog post on Seeking Alpha alleged
improper relationships between Jason Galanis, a Los Angeles
financier and convicted securities fraudster, and the Company’s
senior managers, including Steven Sugarman, Banc’s CEO, and Chad
Brownstein, Banc’s Lead Independent Director.
The same day, Banc issued a press release responding to the
Seeking Alpha post, stating that Galanis’s claims that he was
affiliated with COR Capital were fraudulent.
On January 23, 2017, Banc revealed that the SEC was
investigating whether Banc had misled investors in its response to
the Seeking Alpha report, and disclosed that its CEO Sugarman was
resigning.
The derivative complaint, filed September 26, 2017 in the
Central District of California, alleges that: (1) defendants
authorized or failed to correct the Company’s false October 18,
2016 press release, directly resulting in the SEC investigation;
(2) the Special Committee was composed of conflicted directors
motivated to take control of the Company, which further jeopardized
the Company’s operations; and (3) Banc engaged in accounting
gimmicks with the knowledge of the Audit Committee, designed to
inflate Banc’s results for the first quarter of 2017.
On September 6, 2017, the federal court in the securities class
action upheld allegations of securities fraud against Banc,
including allegations that Banc made false and misleading
statements regarding issues related to the Seeking Alpha
report.
Banc of California Shareholders Have Legal Options
If you invested in Banc of California stock and would like to
discuss your legal rights, please call attorney Amber Eck at
619-342-8000 or e-mail her at ambere@haelaw.com. There is no cost
or obligation to you.
Haeggquist & Eck, LLP is a nationally recognized leader in
shareholder rights law. The firm represents individual investors in
shareholder derivative lawsuits, and members of the firm have
helped shareholders recover more than $1 billion of value for
themselves and the companies in which they have invested.
This release constitutes attorney advertising. Past results do
not guarantee a similar outcome.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170929005809/en/
Haeggquist & Eck, LLP619-342-8000Amber Eck,
ambere@haelaw.com
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