PacWest Bosses Were Trying to Start Over. Then SVB Failed (1)

Even before a series of failures rattled regional banks across the US this year, one knew it needed to enact sweeping changes.

PacWest Bancorp had spent years on a deal spree — splurging on everything from small community banks to a business catering to homeowners associations, to one of the biggest lenders to the security-systems industry, and more.

For a while, the strategy worked: Profit soared and shares of Beverly Hills-based PacWest regularly yielded more than 5% annually.

Then 2022 arrived.

The Federal Reserve began to raise interest rates aggressively to rein in surging inflation, and PacWest’s deposits fell for ...