Opus Bank Announces Proposed Settlement of Class-Action Lawsuit

IRVINE, Calif.--()--Opus Bank (“Opus” or the “Bank”) (NASDAQ: OPB) announced today that in its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2017, which was filed yesterday, November 9, 2017, the Bank disclosed it had entered into a memorandum of understanding to settle the putative class action lawsuit pending in the United States District Court for the Central District of California (the “Court”), Schwartz v. Opus Bank, No. 2:16-cv-07991. The parties agreed to settle the lawsuit for $17.0 million and negotiate in good faith and execute a stipulation of settlement within 30 days of November 3, 2017. The settlement is expected to be fully funded by the Bank’s insurance carriers. The settlement is not expected to have any effect on the Bank’s consolidated statements of income and comprehensive income for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017.

The settlement must be approved by the Court. There can be no assurance that the parties will ultimately enter into a stipulation of settlement or that the Court will approve the settlement even if the parties were to enter into such stipulation. If the settlement is approved by the Court, the settlement will release all claims in the lawsuit that were or could have been brought and preclude further proceedings.

Further information regarding the settlement will be made available if and when the settlement is approved by the Court.

About Opus Bank

Opus Bank is an FDIC insured California-chartered commercial bank with $7.3 billion of total assets, $5.1 billion of total loans, and $6.1 billion in total deposits as of September 30, 2017. Opus Bank provides superior ideas and solutions, and banking products to its clients through its Retail Bank, Commercial Bank, Merchant Bank and Correspondent Bank. Opus Bank offers a suite of treasury and cash management and depository solutions and a wide range of loan products, including commercial, healthcare, media and entertainment, corporate finance, multifamily residential, commercial real estate and structured finance, and is an SBA preferred lender. Opus Bank offers commercial escrow services and facilitates 1031 Exchange transactions through its Escrow and Exchange divisions. Opus Bank provides clients with financial and advisory services related to raising equity capital, targeted acquisition and divestiture strategies, general mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity financing, balance sheet restructuring, valuation, strategy and performance improvement through its Merchant Banking division and its broker-dealer subsidiary, Opus Financial Partners, LLC, Member FINRA/SIPC. Opus Bank’s alternative asset IRA custodian subsidiary has over $16 billion of custodial assets and approximately 52,000 client accounts, which are comprised of self-directed investors, financial institutions, capital raisers and financial advisors. Opus Bank operates 50 banking offices, including 31 in California, 16 in the Seattle/Puget Sound region in Washington, two in the Phoenix metropolitan area of Arizona and one in Portland, Oregon. Opus Bank is an Equal Housing Lender. For additional information about Opus Bank, please visit our website: www.opusbank.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements about our memorandum of understanding and settlement of a putative class action, including our projections on the expected scope of the settlement, the timing of payments under the settlement and our expectations regarding the cost to us of the settlement. Because forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and assumptions regarding the future, they are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties. Do not unduly rely on forward-looking statements as actual results could differ materially from expectations. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made, and we do not undertake to update them to reflect changes or events that occur after that date. For information about factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations, refer to our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the discussion under “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and available on its website at www.sec.gov.

Source: Opus Bank

Contacts

Opus Bank
Mr. Jeff L. Leonard, (949) 251-8146
SVP, Dir. of Corporate Strategy/Communications

Contacts

Opus Bank
Mr. Jeff L. Leonard, (949) 251-8146
SVP, Dir. of Corporate Strategy/Communications