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Filed Pursuant to Rule 424(b)(5)
Registration No. 333-170622

PROSPECTUS SUPPLEMENT

(To Prospectus dated November 23, 2010)

207,360 Shares of Voting Common Stock

 

 

We are offering for sale to St. Cloud Capital Partners II, L.P. and TCW Shared Opportunities Fund V, L.P. (the “Existing Investors”), pursuant to existing contractual rights provided to them into in connection with the $60.0 million common stock offering we completed in November 2010, 207,360 shares of our voting common stock at a price of $14.6475 per share. This price is the same as the price per share to the public, net of underwriting discounts and commissions, in a separate, underwritten public offering (the “Separate Public Offering”) of 1,583,641 shares of our voting common stock that we are conducting concurrently with this offering. We have granted the underwriters of the Separate Public Offering an option to purchase up to 237,546 additional shares of our voting common stock, within 30 days from the date of this prospectus supplement, solely to cover over-allotments, if any. To the extent the underwriters exercise that option, we will offer and sell to the Existing Investors additional shares of voting common stock (the “Additional Shares”), with the percentage of Additional Shares to be purchased by each of them equal to the same percentage of the over-allotment option exercised by the underwriters.

Our voting common stock is listed on the NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol “FPTB.” On June 21, 2011, the last reported sale price of our voting common stock on the NASDAQ Global Market was $16.26 per share.

Investing in our voting common stock involves risks. See “Risk Factors ” beginning on page S-8 of this prospectus supplement before you make your investment decision.

 

 

 

		Per Share				Total
Offering price		$	14.6475			$	3,037,306
Underwriting discount(1)			—				—
Proceeds, before expenses, to us(2)		$	14.6475			$	3,037,306

 

(1)	We will not pay any underwriting discounts or any commissions or fees to any underwriter or placement agent in connection with this offering.

(2)	We anticipate the total expenses of this offering, including reimbursement of the purchasers for certain of their expenses, to be approximately $10,000.

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission nor any other regulatory body has approved or disapproved of these securities or passed upon the adequacy or accuracy of this prospectus supplement or the accompanying prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

These securities are not savings accounts, deposits or other obligations of any bank and are not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.

It is currently anticipated that the closing date of this offering will be on or about June 28, 2011. The closing of this offering is subject to the consummation of the separate, underwritten public offering.

The date of this prospectus supplement is June 22, 2011.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Prospectus Supplement

 

		Page
About This Prospectus Supplement			S-ii
Where You Can Find More Information			S-ii
Incorporation of Certain Documents By Reference			S-iii
Special Cautionary Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements			S-iv
Prospectus Supplement Summary			S-1
Risk Factors			S-8
Use of Proceeds			S-21
Price Range of Voting Common Stock and Dividends			S-22
Capitalization			S-23
Description of Capital Stock			S-24
Plan of Distribution			S-24
Legal Matters			S-24
Experts			S-24

Prospectus

 

		Page
Important Notice About Information Presented in This Prospectus and the Accompanying Prospectus Supplement			2
About This Prospectus			4
Where You Can Find More Information			4
Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements			6
Prospectus Summary			9
Risk Factors			11
First PacTrust Bancorp, Inc.			11
Consolidated Ratios of Earnings to Fixed Charges and Preferred Stock Dividend Requirement			12
Use of Proceeds			12
Regulation and Supervision			12
Description of Debt Securities			13
Description of Common Stock and Preferred Stock			25
Description of Depositary Shares			35
Description of Purchase Contracts			39
Description of Warrants			39
Description of Rights			41
Description of Units			42
Description of Global Securities			43
Plan of Distribution			44
Legal Matters			46
Experts			46

You should rely only on the information contained or incorporated by reference in this prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus. We have not authorized anyone to provide you with different information. If anyone provides you with different or inconsistent information, you should not rely on it. The information contained in this prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus is accurate only as of the date of each document regardless of the time of delivery of this prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus or any sale of these securities. In case there are any differences or inconsistencies between this prospectus supplement, the accompanying prospectus and the information incorporated by reference, you should rely on the information in the document with the latest date.

 

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ABOUT THIS PROSPECTUS SUPPLEMENT

This document is in two parts. The first part is this prospectus supplement, which describes the specific terms of this offering and certain other matters and also adds to and updates information contained in the accompanying prospectus and the documents incorporated by reference into this prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus. The second part, the accompanying prospectus, gives more general information about us, the voting common stock offered hereby and other securities that we may offer from time to time, some of which information may not apply to this offering. Generally, when we refer to the prospectus, we are referring to both parts of this document combined. To the extent the description of this offering in the prospectus supplement differs from the description in the accompanying prospectus or any document incorporated by reference filed prior to the date of this prospectus supplement, you should rely on the information in this prospectus supplement.

We are offering to sell, and seeking offers to buy, shares of our voting common stock only in jurisdictions where offers and sales are permitted. The distribution of this prospectus and the offering of the voting common stock in certain jurisdictions may be restricted by law. Persons outside the United States who come into possession of this prospectus must inform themselves about, and observe any restrictions relating to, the offering of the voting common stock and the distribution of this prospectus outside the United States. This prospectus does not constitute, and may not be used in connection with, an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any voting common stock offered by this prospectus by any person in any jurisdiction in which it is unlawful for such person to make such an offer or solicitation.

This prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus are part of a registration statement that we filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) using a shelf registration process. Under this shelf registration process, we may sell any combination of securities described in the accompanying prospectus in one or more offerings from time to time. Both this prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus include or incorporate by reference important information about us, our common stock and other information you should know before investing. You should read both this prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus as well as additional information described under “Where You Can Find More Information” and “Incorporation of Certain Documents by Reference” in this prospectus supplement.

This prospectus supplement may add to, update or change the information in the accompanying prospectus. If information in this prospectus supplement is inconsistent with information in the accompanying prospectus, this prospectus supplement will apply and will supersede that information in the accompanying prospectus.

Unless otherwise indicated or unless the context requires otherwise, references in this prospectus supplement to “First PacTrust Bancorp,” the “Company,” “we,” “us,” “our” or similar references mean First PacTrust Bancorp, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries and references to “Pacific Trust Bank,” or the “Bank” mean Pacific Trust Bank, a federal savings bank and wholly owned subsidiary of First PacTrust Bancorp, Inc.

WHERE YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION

We file annual, quarterly and current reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. You may read and copy any document we file at the SEC’s public reference room at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549. Please call the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330 for further information on its public reference room. Our SEC filings are also available to the public at the SEC’s web site at http://www.sec.gov.

 

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INCORPORATION OF CERTAIN DOCUMENTS BY REFERENCE

The SEC allows us to incorporate by reference the information in documents we file with them, which means that we can disclose important information to you by referring you to those documents. The information incorporated by reference is considered to be a part of this prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus, and later information that we file with the SEC will automatically supersede this information. We incorporate by reference the documents listed below and any documents we file with the SEC after the date of this prospectus supplement under Section 13(a), 13(c), 14, or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), and before the date that the offering of securities by means of this prospectus supplement is completed (other than, in each case, documents or information deemed to have been furnished and not filed in accordance with SEC rules):

 

•

our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010, including the information we incorporated by reference in our Form 10-K from our definitive proxy statement for our 2011 Annual Meeting of Shareholders (filed on April 25, 2011);

 

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our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2011; and

 

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our Current Reports on Form 8-K filed on January 5, 2011, January 27, 2011, February 24, 2011, February 25, 2011, February 28, 2011, March 4, 2011, March 23, 2011, May 2, 2011, May 3, 2011, May 10, 2011, May 12, 2011, May 26, 2011 (two reports), May 31, 2011 (two reports), June 6, 2011, June 9, 2011, June 17, 2011 and June 22, 2011.

You may request a copy of these filings (other than an exhibit to a filing unless that exhibit is specifically incorporated by reference into that filing) at no cost, by writing or calling us at Investor Relations, First PacTrust Bancorp, Inc., 610 Bay Boulevard, Chula Vista, California 91910, telephone: (619) 691-1519.

 

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SPECIAL CAUTIONARY NOTICE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This prospectus supplement, the accompanying prospectus and the documents incorporated by reference may include forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Exchange Act.

Forward-looking statements, which are based on certain assumptions and describe our future goals, plans, strategies, and expectations, are generally identified by use of words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “project,” “seek,” “strive,” “try,” or future or conditional verbs such as “will,” “would,” “should,” “could,” “may,” or similar expressions. Our ability to predict results or the actual effects of our plans or strategies is inherently uncertain, and we can give no assurance that our plans, intentions or expectations will be achieved or realized. Actual results, performance or achievements could differ materially from those contemplated, expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements contained in this prospectus supplement, the accompanying prospectus or any document incorporated by reference. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the following:

 

•

expected cost savings, synergies and other benefits from our merger and acquisition activities, including our pending acquisition of Gateway Bancorp, might not be realized within the anticipated time frames or at all, might result in goodwill charges and costs or difficulties relating to integration matters, including but not limited to customer and employee retention, might be greater than expected;

 

•

continuation or worsening of current recessionary conditions, as well as continued turmoil in the financial markets;

 

•

the credit risks of lending activities, which may be affected by further deterioration in the real estate markets, may lead to increased loan delinquencies, losses and nonperforming assets in our loan portfolio, and may result in our allowance for loan losses not being adequate to cover actual losses and require us to materially increase our loan loss reserves;

 

•

the quality and composition of our securities portfolio;

 

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changes in general economic conditions, either nationally or in our market areas;

 

•

changes in the levels of general interest rates, and the relative differences between short- and long-term interest rates, deposit interest rates, our net interest margin and funding sources;

 

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fluctuations in the demand for loans, the number of unsold homes and other properties and fluctuations in commercial and residential real estate values in our market area;

 

•

results of examinations of us by regulatory authorities, including the Bank’s compliance with the memorandum of understanding it entered into with the Office of Thrift Supervision (the “OTS”), and the possibility that any such regulatory authority may, among other things, require us to increase our allowance for loan losses, write-down asset values, increase our capital levels, or affect our ability to borrow funds or maintain or increase deposits, which could adversely affect our liquidity and earnings;

 

•

legislative or regulatory changes that adversely affect our business, including changes in the interpretation of regulatory capital or other rules;

 

•

our ability to control operating costs and expenses;

 

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staffing fluctuations in response to product demand or the implementation of corporate strategies that affect our work force and potential associated charges;

 

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errors in our estimates in determining fair value of certain of our assets, which may result in significant declines in valuation;

 

•

the network and computer systems on which we depend could fail or experience a security breach;

 

•

our ability to attract and retain key members of our senior management team;

 

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costs and effects of litigation, including settlements and judgments;

 

•

increased competitive pressures among financial services companies;

 

•

changes in consumer spending, borrowing and saving habits;

 

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adverse changes in the securities markets;

 

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earthquake, fire or other natural disasters affecting the condition of real estate collateral;

 

•

the availability of resources to address changes in laws, rules or regulations or to respond to regulatory actions;

 

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inability of key third-party providers to perform their obligations to us;

 

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changes in accounting policies and practices, as may be adopted by the financial institution regulatory agencies or the Financial Accounting Standards Board or their application to our business or final audit adjustments, including additional guidance and interpretation on accounting issues and details of the implementation of new accounting methods;

 

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war or terrorist activities; and

 

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other economic, competitive, governmental, regulatory, and technological factors affecting our operations, pricing, products and services and the other risks described elsewhere in this prospectus supplement, the accompanying prospectus and the incorporated documents.

Some of these and other factors are discussed in this prospectus supplement under the caption “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this prospectus supplement and in the incorporated documents. Such developments could have an adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Any forward-looking statements are based upon management’s beliefs and assumptions at the time they are made. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements included or incorporated by reference in this prospectus supplement or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those contained in such statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking statements discussed in this prospectus supplement or the incorporated documents might not occur, and you should not put undue reliance on any forward-looking statements.

 

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RISK FACTORS

An investment in our voting common stock involves risks. The risks described below are not the only ones facing our company. Additional risks not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial may also impair our business operations. Our business, financial condition, results of operations or prospects could be materially negatively affected by any of these risks. The trading price of our voting common stock could decline due to any of these risks, and you may lose all or part of your investment. This prospectus supplement and the documents incorporated by reference herein also contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors, including the risks faced by us described below and elsewhere in this prospectus supplement and the incorporated documents.

Risks Relating to Our Business and Operating Environment

Our business strategy includes significant growth plans, and our financial condition and results of operations could be negatively affected if we fail to grow or fail to manage our growth effectively.

We intend to pursue an organic and acquisition growth strategy for our business. We regularly evaluate potential acquisitions and expansion opportunities. If appropriate opportunities present themselves, we expect to engage in selected acquisitions of financial institutions, branch acquisitions and other business growth initiatives or undertakings. There can be no assurance that we will successfully identify appropriate opportunities, that we will be able to negotiate or finance such activities or that such activities, if undertaken, will be successful.

There are risks associated with our growth strategy. To the extent that we grow through acquisitions, we cannot ensure that we will be able to adequately or profitably manage this growth. Acquiring other banks, branches or other assets, as well as other expansion activities, involves various risks including the risks of incorrectly assessing the credit quality of acquired assets, encountering greater than expected costs of integrating acquired banks or branches into the Bank, the risk of loss of customers and/or employees of the acquired institution or branch, executing cost savings measures, not achieving revenue enhancements and otherwise not realizing the transaction’s anticipated benefits. Our ability to address these matters successfully cannot be assured. In addition, our strategic efforts may divert resources or management’s attention from ongoing business operations and may subject us to additional regulatory scrutiny.

Our growth initiatives may also require us to recruit experienced personnel to assist in such initiatives. Accordingly, the failure to identify and retain such personnel would place significant limitations on our ability to successfully execute our growth strategy. In addition, to the extent we expand our lending beyond our current market areas, we could incur additional risks related to those new market areas. We may not be able to expand our market presence in our existing market areas or successfully enter new markets.

If we do not successfully execute our acquisition growth plan, it could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, reputation and growth prospects. In addition, if we were to conclude that the value of an acquired business had decreased and that the related goodwill had been impaired, that conclusion would result in an impairment of goodwill charge to us, which would adversely affect our results of operations. While we believe we will have the executive management resources and internal systems in place to successfully manage our future growth, there can be no assurance growth opportunities will be available or that we will successfully manage our growth.

 

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We may fail to realize all of the anticipated benefits of our pending acquisition of Gateway Bancorp.

On June 3, 2011, we entered into a definitive agreement to acquire all of the outstanding stock of Gateway Bancorp, the holding company for Gateway Business Bank. The closing of the transaction is subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions, including the receipt of all necessary or advisable regulatory approvals. No assurance can be given as to when or whether these approvals will be received. The success of our pending acquisition of Gateway Bancorp will depend on, among other things, our ability to realize anticipated cost savings and to combine the businesses of Pacific Trust Bank and Gateway Business Bank in a manner that does not materially disrupt the existing customer relationships of either institution or result in decreased revenues from our respective customers. If we are not able to successfully achieve these objectives, the anticipated benefits of the acquisition may not be realized fully or at all or may take longer to realize than expected.

Pacific Trust Bank and Gateway Business Bank have operated and, until the completion of the merger of the two institutions, will continue to operate, independently. It is possible that the integration process could result in the loss of key employees, the disruption of each institution’s ongoing businesses or inconsistencies in standards, controls, procedures and policies that adversely affect our ability to maintain relationships with customers, depositors and employees or to achieve the anticipated benefits of the acquisition. Integration efforts between the two institutions will also divert management attention and resources. These integration matters could have an adverse effect on the combined institution following completion of the acquisition.

One of the anticipated benefits of the Gateway Bancorp acquisition is the diversification of our revenue stream through non-interest income realized from the mortgage banking operations of Mission Hills Mortgage Bankers, a division of Gateway Business Bank. Most of the revenues generated by Mission Hills come from gains on the sale of single-family mortgage loans pursuant to programs currently offered by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and investors other than government sponsored enterprises on a servicing-released basis. These entities account for a substantial portion of the secondary market in residential mortgage loans. Any future changes in these programs, reduction in number of entities to sell to, eligibility to participate in such programs, the criteria for loans to be accepted or laws that significantly affect the activity of such entities could, in turn, materially reduce the revenues generated by Mission Hills. Further, in a rising or higher interest rate environment, originations of mortgage loans may decrease, resulting in fewer loans that are available to be sold to investors. This would result in a decrease in mortgage banking revenues and a corresponding decrease in our non-interest income following the Gateway Bancorp acquisition. Our post-acquisition results of operations also will be affected by the amount of non-interest expense associated with mortgage banking activities, such as salaries and employee benefits, occupancy, equipment and data processing expense and other operating costs. During periods of reduced loan demand, our results of operations may be adversely affected to the extent that we are unable to reduce expenses commensurate with the decline in loan originations.

The Bank is subject to a memorandum of understanding with the Office of Thrift Supervision, which imposes certain requirements and restrictions on the Bank.

In August 2009, the Bank entered into a memorandum of understanding (the “MOU”) with the OTS to address certain concerns of the OTS following its examination of the Bank. The MOU requires the Bank to: (i) submit a three-year business plan to the OTS and provide to the OTS quarterly variance reports of the Bank’s compliance with that plan; (ii) submit a non-traditional mortgage analysis plan to the OTS designed to ensure compliance with applicable regulatory guidance concerning the risks of that loan product type; (iii) adopt a concentrations risk management policy addressing concentration risks for loan types other than conforming single family residential loans and for all funding sources; (iv) submit a plan to the OTS to ensure the Bank’s allowance for loan loss methodology is consistent with regulatory requirements and guidance and that the allowance is adequate at each quarter end; (v) adopt a pre-purchase analysis procedure that requires full documentation of all factors and research considered by management prior to the purchase of complex securities; (vi) provide the OTS with quarterly updates of problem assets; and (vii) refrain from increasing the dollar amount of brokered deposits above the amount

 

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held by the Bank as of June 30, 2009, excluding interest credited, without the prior written non-objection of the OTS.

The Bank believes it is currently in full compliance with the MOU but will remain subject to the MOU until such time as all or any portion of the MOU has been modified, suspended or terminated by the OTS. Failure by the Bank to comply fully with the terms of the MOU or any of the plans or policies adopted by the Bank pursuant to the MOU could result in further regulatory action against the Bank

Our financial condition and results of operations are dependent on the economy, particularly in the Bank’s market area. The current economic conditions in the market areas we serve may continue to impact our earnings adversely and could increase the credit risk of our loan portfolio.

Our primary market area is concentrated in the greater San Diego market area. Adverse economic conditions in that market area can reduce our rate of growth, affect our customers’ ability to repay loans and adversely impact our financial condition and earnings. General economic conditions, including inflation, unemployment and money supply fluctuations, also may affect our profitability adversely. Weak economic conditions and ongoing strains in the financial and housing markets have resulted in higher levels of loan delinquencies, problem assets and foreclosures and a decline in the values of the collateral securing our loans.

A further deterioration in economic conditions in the market areas we serve could result in the following consequences, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations:

 

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demand for our products and services may decline;

 

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loan delinquencies, problem assets and foreclosures may increase;

 

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collateral for our loans may further decline in value; and

 

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the amount of our low-cost or non-interest-bearing deposits may decrease.

We cannot accurately predict the effect of the weakness in the national economy on our future operating results or the market price of our voting common stock.

The national economy in general and the financial services sector in particular are currently facing challenges of a scope unprecedented in recent history. We cannot accurately predict the severity or duration of the current economic downturn, which has adversely impacted the markets we serve. Any further deterioration in national or local economic conditions would have an adverse effect, which could be material, on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects, and could also cause the market price of our voting common stock to decline. While it is impossible to predict how long these conditions may exist, the current economic downturn could present substantial risks for some time for the banking industry and for us.

Our allowance for loan losses may prove to be insufficient to absorb probable losses in our loan portfolio.

Lending money is a substantial part of our business. Every loan carries a certain risk that it will not be repaid in accordance with its terms or that any underlying collateral will not be sufficient to assure repayment. This risk is affected by, among other things:

 

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cash flow of the borrower and/or the project being financed;

 

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in the case of a collateralized loan, the changes and uncertainties as to the future value of the collateral;

 

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the credit history of a particular borrower;

 

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changes in economic and industry conditions; and

 

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the duration of the loan.

We maintain an allowance for loan losses which we believe is appropriate to provide for potential losses in our loan portfolio. The amount of this allowance is determined by our management through a periodic review and consideration of several factors, including, but not limited to:

 

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an ongoing review of the quality, size and diversity of the loan portfolio;

 

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evaluation of non-performing loans;

 

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historical default and loss experience;

 

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historical recovery experience;

 

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existing economic conditions;

 

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risk characteristics of the various classifications of loans; and

 

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the amount and quality of collateral, including guarantees, securing the loans.

If our loan losses exceed our allowance for probable loan losses, our business, financial condition and profitability may suffer.

The determination of the appropriate level of the allowance for loan losses inherently involves a high degree of subjectivity and requires us to make various assumptions and judgments about the collectability of our loan portfolio, including the creditworthiness of our borrowers and the value of the real estate and other assets serving as collateral for the repayment of many of our loans. In determining the amount of the allowance for loan losses, we review our loans and the loss and delinquency experience, and evaluate economic conditions and make significant estimates of current credit risks and future trends, all of which may undergo material changes. If our estimates are incorrect, the allowance for loan losses may not be sufficient to cover losses inherent in our loan portfolio, resulting in the need for additions to our allowance through an increase in the provision for loan losses. Continuing deterioration in economic conditions affecting borrowers, new information regarding existing loans, identification of additional problem loans and other factors, both within and outside of our control, may require an increase in the allowance for loan losses. Our allowance for loan losses was 1.75% of gross loans held for investment and 43.1% of nonperforming loans (not including troubled debt restructuring loans) at March 31, 2011. In addition, bank regulatory agencies periodically review our allowance for loan losses and may require an increase in the provision for possible loan losses or the recognition of further loan charge-offs, based on judgments different than that of management. If charge-offs in future periods exceed the allowance for loan losses, we will need additional provisions to increase the allowance for loan losses. Any increases in the provision for loan losses will result in a decrease in net income and may have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Our business may be adversely affected by credit risk associated with residential property and declining property values.

At March 31, 2011, $580.6 million, or 85.3% of our total gross loan portfolio, was secured by single-family mortgage loans and home equity lines of credit. This type of lending is generally sensitive to regional and local economic conditions that significantly impact the ability of borrowers to meet their loan payment obligations, making loss levels difficult to predict. The decline in residential real estate values as a result of the downturn in the California housing markets has reduced the value of the real estate

 

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collateral securing these types of loans and increased the risk that we would incur losses if borrowers default on their loans. At March 31, 2011, approximately $82.6 million of our single-family mortgage loans and home equity lines of credit had a loan-to-value ratio greater than 100% based on recent appraisals of the underlying properties. Residential loans with high combined loan-to-value ratios generally will be more sensitive to declining property values than those with lower combined loan-to-value ratios and therefore may experience a higher incidence of default and severity of losses. In addition, if the borrowers sell their homes, the borrowers may be unable to repay their loans in full from the sale proceeds. As a result, these loans may experience higher rates of delinquencies, defaults and losses, which will in turn adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

Our loan portfolio possesses increased risk due to our level of adjustable rate loans.

A substantial majority of our real estate secured loans held are adjustable-rate loans. Any rise in prevailing market interest rates may result in increased payments for borrowers who have adjustable rate mortgage loans, increasing the possibility of defaults that may adversely affect our profitability.

Our non-traditional, interest-only single-family residential loans expose us to increased lending risk.

Many of the residential mortgage loans we have originated for investment consisted of non-traditional single family loans that do not conform to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac underwriting guidelines as a result of characteristics of the borrower or property, the loan terms, loan size or exceptions from agency underwriting guidelines, including our Green account loans. The Green Account is a first mortgage line of credit with an associated “clearing account” that allows all types of deposits and withdrawals to be performed, including direct deposit, check, debit card, ATM, ACH debits and credits, and internet banking and bill payment transactions. At March 31, 2011, we had $249.7 million of total Green account loans, which represented 36.7% of our gross loan portfolio as of that date. Green account home equity loans generally have a fifteen year draw period with interest-only payment requirements, a balloon payment requirement at the end of the draw period and a maximum 80% loan to value ratio. In addition to the Green account loans, we had other interest-only residential mortgage loans totaling $153.1 million at March 31, 2011, representing 22.5% of our gross loan portfolio as of that date, and negative amortization loans (a loan in which accrued interest exceeding the required monthly loan payment may be added to loan principal) totaling $31.6 million, representing 4.65% of our gross loan portfolio as of March 31, 2011. We ceased originating negative amortization loans in 2006.

In the case of interest-only loans, a borrower’s monthly payment is subject to change when the loan converts to fully-amortizing status. Since the borrower’s monthly payment may increase by a substantial amount even without an increase in prevailing market interest rates, the borrower might not be able to afford the increased monthly payment. In addition, interest-only loans have a large, balloon payment at the end of the loan term, which the borrower may be unable to pay. Negative amortization involves a greater risk to us because credit risk exposure increases when the loan incurs negative amortization and the value of the home serving as collateral for the loan does not increase proportionally. Negative amortization is only permitted up to 110% of the original loan to value ratio during the first five years the loan is outstanding, with payments adjusting periodically as provided in the loan documents, potentially resulting in higher payments by the borrower. The adjustment of these loans to higher payment requirements can be a substantial factor in higher loan delinquency levels because the borrowers may not be able to make the higher payments. Also, real estate values may decline, and credit standards may tighten in concert with the higher payment requirement, making it difficult for borrowers to sell their homes or refinance their loans to pay off their mortgage obligations. For these reasons, interest-only loans and negative amortization loans are considered to have an increased risk of delinquency, default and foreclosure than conforming loans and may result in higher levels of realized losses. Furthermore, these loans are not as readily saleable as loans that conform to agency guidelines and often can be sold only after discounting the amortized value of the loan. As of March 31, 2011, 2.8% of our interest-only loans, totaling $19.4 million, were in non-performing status and 0.34% of our negative amortization loans, totaling $2.3 million, were in non-performing status.

 

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Our income property loans, consisting of commercial and multi-family real estate loans, involve higher principal amounts than other loans and repayment of these loans may be dependent on factors outside our control or the control of our borrowers.

We originate commercial and multi-family real estate loans for individuals and businesses for various purposes, which are secured by commercial properties. These loans typically involve higher principal amounts than other types of loans, and repayment is dependent upon income generated, or expected to be generated, by the property securing the loan in amounts sufficient to cover operating expenses and debt service, which may be adversely affected by changes in the economy or local market conditions. For example, if the cash flow from the borrower’s project is reduced as a result of leases not being obtained or renewed, the borrower’s ability to repay the loan may be impaired. Commercial and multifamily real estate loans also expose us to greater credit risk than loans secured by residential real estate because the collateral securing these loans typically cannot be sold as easily as residential real estate. In addition, many of our commercial and multifamily real estate loans are not fully amortizing and contain large balloon payments upon maturity. Such balloon payments may require the borrower to either sell or refinance the underlying property in order to make the payment, which may increase the risk of default or non-payment.

If we foreclose on a commercial and multi-family real estate loan, our holding period for the collateral typically is longer than for residential mortgage loans because there are fewer potential purchasers of the collateral. Additionally, commercial and multi-family real estate loans generally have relatively large balances to single borrowers or related groups of borrowers. Accordingly, if we make any errors in judgment in the collectability of our commercial and multi-family real estate loans, any resulting charge-offs may be larger on a per loan basis than those incurred with our residential or consumer loan portfolios. As of March 31, 2011, our commercial and multi-family real estate loans totaled $69.1 million, or 10.2% of our total gross loan portfolio.

If our investments in real estate are not properly valued or sufficiently reserved to cover actual losses, or if we are required to increase our valuation reserves, our earnings could be reduced.

We obtain updated valuations in the form of appraisals and broker price opinions when a loan has been foreclosed upon and the property is taken in as real estate owned (“REO”), and at certain other times during the asset’s holding period. Our net book value (“NBV”) in the loan at the time of foreclosure and thereafter is compared to the updated market value (fair value) of the foreclosed property less estimated selling costs. A charge-off is recorded for any excess in the asset’s NBV over its fair value. If our valuation process is incorrect, the fair value of our investments in real estate may not be sufficient to recover our NBV in such assets, resulting in the need for additional charge-offs. Additional material charge-offs to our investments in real estate could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. Our bank regulator periodically reviews our REO and may require us to recognize further charge-offs. Any increase in our charge-offs, as required by such regulator, may have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Other-than-temporary impairment charges in our investment securities portfolio could result in losses and adversely affect our continuing operations.

As of March 31, 2011, our securities portfolio consisted of 27 securities, four of which were in an unrealized loss position. The majority of unrealized losses are related to our private label mortgage-backed securities, as discussed below. Our private label mortgage-backed securities that are in a loss position had a market value of $12.1 million with unrealized losses of approximately $161 thousand at March 31, 2011. These non-agency private label mortgage-backed securities were investment grade at purchase and are not within the scope of Accounting Standards Codification 325. We monitor our portfolio to ensure we have adequate credit support and as of March 31, 2011, we believed there was no other-than-temporary impairment. We do not have the intent to sell these securities and it is likely that we will not be required to sell the securities before their anticipated recovery. No assurance can be given in this regard, however.

 

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We closely monitor our investment securities for changes in credit risk. The valuation of our investment securities also is influenced by external market and other factors, including implementation of SEC and Financial Accounting Standards Board guidance on fair value accounting. Accordingly, if market conditions deteriorate further and we determine our holdings of investment securities are other than temporarily impaired, our future earnings, shareholders’ equity, regulatory capital and continuing operations could be materially adversely affected.

Rising interest rates may hurt our profits.

To be profitable, we have to earn more money in interest that we receive on loans and investments than we pay to our depositors and lenders in interest. If interest rates rise, our net interest income and the value of our assets could be reduced if interest paid on interest-bearing liabilities, such as deposits and borrowings, increases more quickly than interest received on interest-earning assets, such as loans, other mortgage-related investments and investment securities. This is most likely to occur if short-term interest rates increase at a faster rate than long-term interest rates, which would cause income to go down. In addition, rising interest rates may hurt our income, because they may reduce the demand for loans and the value of our securities. In a rapidly changing interest rate environment, we may not be able to manage our interest rate risk effectively, which would adversely impact our financial condition and results of operations.

We face significant operational risks.

We operate many different financial service functions and rely on the ability of our employees, third-party vendors and systems to process a significant number of transactions. Operational risk is the risk of loss from operations, including fraud by employees or outside persons, employees’ execution of incorrect or unauthorized transactions, data processing and technology errors or hacking and breaches of internal control systems.

Liquidity risk could impair our ability to fund operations and jeopardize our financial condition.

Liquidity is essential to our business. An inability to raise funds through deposits, borrowings, the sale of loans and other sources could have a substantial negative effect on our liquidity. Our access to funding sources in amounts adequate to finance our activities or on terms that are acceptable to us could be impaired by factors that affect us specifically or the financial services industry or economy in general. Factors that could detrimentally impact our access to liquidity sources include a decrease in the level of our business activity as a result of a downturn in the markets in which our loans are concentrated or adverse regulatory action against us. Our ability to borrow could also be impaired by factors that are not specific to us, such as a disruption in the financial markets or negative views and expectations about the prospects for the financial services industry in light of the recent turmoil faced by banking organizations and the continued deterioration in credit markets.

We may elect or be compelled to seek additional capital in the future, but that capital may not be available when it is needed.

We are required by federal regulatory authorities to maintain adequate levels of capital to support our operations. At some point, we may need to raise additional capital to support continued growth, both organically and through acquisitions. If we raise additional capital, we may seek to do so through the issuance of, among other things, our common stock or preferred stock. The issuance of additional shares of common stock or convertible securities to new shareholders would be dilutive to our current shareholders.

Our ability to raise additional capital, if needed, will depend on conditions in the capital markets, economic conditions and a number of other factors, many of which are outside our control, and on our financial performance. Accordingly, we cannot assure you of our ability to raise additional capital if needed or on terms acceptable to us. If we cannot raise additional capital when needed, our ability to

 

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further expand our operations through organic growth and acquisitions could be materially impaired and our financial condition and liquidity could be materially and adversely affected.

We depend on our key employees.

Our future prospects are and will remain highly dependent on our directors and executive officers. Our success will, to some extent, depend on the continued service of our directors and continued employment of the executive officers. The unexpected loss of the services of any of these individuals could have a detrimental effect on our business. Although we have entered into employment agreements with members of our senior management team, no assurance can be given that these individuals will continue to be employed by us. The loss of any of these individuals could negatively affect our ability to achieve our growth strategy and could have a material adverse affect on our results of operations and financial condition.

We currently hold a significant amount of bank-owned life insurance.

At March 31, 2011, we held $18.2 million of bank-owned life insurance or BOLI on key employees and executives, with a cash surrender value of $18.2 million. The eventual repayment of the cash surrender value is subject to the ability of the various insurance companies to pay death benefits or to return the cash surrender value to us if needed for liquidity purposes. We continually monitor the financial strength of the various companies with whom we carry these policies. However, any one of these companies could experience a decline in financial strength, which could impair its ability to pay benefits or return our cash surrender value. If we need to liquidate these policies for liquidity purposes, we would be subject to taxation on the increase in cash surrender value and penalties for early termination, both of which would adversely impact earnings.

If our investment in the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco becomes impaired, our earnings and shareholders’ equity could decrease.

At March 31, 2011, we owned $8.0 million in Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco stock. We are required to own this stock to be a member of and to obtain advances from our Federal Home Loan Bank. This stock is not marketable and can only be redeemed by our Federal Home Loan Bank, which currently is not redeeming any excess member stock. Our Federal Home Loan Bank’s financial condition is linked, in part, to the eleven other members of the Federal Home Loan Bank System and to accounting rules and asset quality risks that could materially lower their capital, which would cause our Federal Home Loan Bank stock to be deemed impaired, resulting in a decrease in our earnings and assets.

Our information systems may experience an interruption or breach in security; we may have fewer resources than many of our competitors to continue to invest in technological improvements.

We rely heavily on communications and information systems to conduct our business. Any failure, interruption or breach in security of these systems could result in failures or disruptions in our customer relationship management, general ledger, deposit, loan and other systems. While we have policies and procedures designed to prevent or limit the effect of the failure, interruption or security breach of our information systems, there can be no assurance that any such failures, interruptions or security breaches will not occur or, if they do occur, that they will be adequately addressed. The occurrence of any failures, interruptions or security breaches of our information systems could damage our reputation, result in a loss of customer business, subject us to additional regulatory scrutiny, or expose us to civil litigation and possible financial liability, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. In addition, our future success will depend, in part, upon our ability to address the needs of our clients by using technology to provide products and services that will satisfy client demands for convenience, as well as to create additional efficiencies in our operations. Many of our competitors have substantially greater resources to invest in technological improvements. We may not be able to effectively implement new technology-driven products and services or be successful in marketing these products and services to our clients.

 

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We operate in a highly regulated environment and our operations and income may be affected adversely by changes in laws and regulations governing our operations.

We are subject to extensive regulation and supervision by the OTS (until July 21, 2011, and thereafter by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (the “OCC”), as noted below) and the FDIC. Such regulators govern the activities in which we may engage, primarily for the protection of depositors and the deposit insurance fund. These regulatory authorities have extensive discretion in connection with their supervisory and enforcement activities, including the ability to impose restrictions on a bank’s operations, reclassify assets, determine the adequacy of a bank’s allowance for loan losses and determine the level of deposit insurance premiums assessed. Any change in such regulation and oversight, whether in the form of regulatory policy, new regulations or legislation or additional deposit insurance premiums could have a material impact on our operations. Because our business is highly regulated, the laws and applicable regulations are subject to frequent change. Any new laws, rules and regulations could make compliance more difficult or expensive or otherwise adversely affect our business, financial condition or prospects. Such changes could subject us to additional costs, limit the types of financial services and products we may offer and/or increase the ability of non-banks to offer competing financial services and products, among other things. The recently enacted regulatory reform legislation described below will, among other things, change our primary regulator, create a new consumer finance protection agency and impose capital requirements on us at the holding company level. These changes could adversely impact our operations and net income.

The Dodd-Frank Act could have a material adverse effect on us.

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”), which was enacted into law on July 21, 2010, provides for, among other things, new restrictions and an expanded framework of regulatory oversight for financial institutions and their holding companies, including First PacTrust Bancorp and Pacific Trust Bank. Under the new law, the Bank’s current primary regulator, the OTS, will be eliminated and existing federal thrifts will be subject to regulation and supervision by the OCC, which currently supervises and regulates all national banks. In addition, on July 21, 2011, all savings and loan holding companies, including First PacTrust Bancorp, will be subject to regulation and supervision by the Federal Reserve Board, which currently supervises and regulates all bank holding companies. This change in regulation of savings and loan holding companies may result in the imposition of holding company capital requirements and additional restrictions on investments and other holding company activities. The Dodd-Frank Act also creates a new consumer financial protection bureau that will have the authority to promulgate rules intended to protect consumers in the financial products and services market. The creation of this independent bureau is likely to result in new regulatory requirements and raise the cost of regulatory compliance. In addition, new regulations mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act could require changes in regulatory capital requirements, loan loss provisioning practices and compensation practices. Effective July 21, 2011, financial institutions may pay interest on demand deposits, which could increase our interest expense. At this time, we cannot determine the full impact of the Dodd-Frank Act on our business and operations.

Increases in deposit insurance premiums and special FDIC assessments will negatively impact our earnings.

During 2009, our FDIC insurance premiums increased significantly and we may pay higher FDIC premiums in the future. The recently enacted Dodd-Frank Act increased the minimum reserve ratio from 1.15% to 1.35%. The FDIC has adopted a plan under which it will meet this ratio by the statutory deadline of September 30, 2020. The Dodd-Frank Act requires the FDIC to offset the effect of the increase in the minimum reserve ratio on institutions with assets less than $10.0 billion. The FDIC has not announced how it will implement this offset. In addition to the minimum reserve ratio, the FDIC must set a designated reserve ratio. The FDIC has set a designated reserve ratio of 2.0, which exceeds the minimum reserve ratio.

As required by the Dodd-Frank Act, the FDIC has adopted final regulations under which insurance premiums are based on an institution’s total assets minus its tangible equity instead of its

 

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deposits. While our FDIC insurance premiums initially will be reduced by these regulations, it is possible that our future insurance premiums will increase under the final regulations.

Changes in accounting standards may affect our performance.

Our accounting policies and methods are fundamental to how we record and report our financial condition and results of operations. From time to time there are changes in the financial accounting and reporting standards that govern the preparation of our financial statements. These changes can be difficult to predict and can materially impact how we report and record our financial condition and results of operations. In some cases, we could be required to apply a new or revised standard retroactively, resulting in a retrospective adjustment to prior financial statements.

Strong competition within our market area may limit our growth and profitability.

Competition in the banking and financial services industry is intense. In our market area, we compete with commercial banks, savings institutions, mortgage brokerage firms, credit unions, finance companies, mutual funds, insurance companies, and brokerage and investment banking firms operating locally and elsewhere. Many of these competitors have substantially greater name recognition, resources and lending limits than we do and may offer certain services or prices for services that we do not or cannot provide. Our profitability depends upon our continued ability to successfully compete in our market.

Risks Relating to This Offering and Our Voting Common Stock

The market price of our voting common stock may decline after the offering.

The price per share at which we sell our voting common stock in this offering may be more or less than the market price of the voting common stock on the date the offering is consummated. If the purchase price is greater than the market price at the time of sale, purchasers may experience an immediate decline in the market value of the voting common stock purchased in this offering. If the actual purchase price is less than the market price for the shares of the voting common stock, some purchasers in this offering may be inclined to immediately sell shares of the voting common stock to attempt to realize a profit. Any such sales, depending on the volume and timing, could cause the price of our voting common stock to decline. Additionally, because stock prices generally fluctuate over time, there is no assurance that purchasers of our voting common stock in this offering will be able to sell shares after the offering at a price that is equal to or greater than the actual purchase price. Purchasers should consider these possibilities in determining whether to purchase shares in the offering and the timing of any sales of shares of voting common stock.

Our trading volume may not provide adequate liquidity for investors.

Our voting common stock is listed on the NASDSAQ Global Market. However, the average daily trading volume in our voting common stock is less than that of larger financial services companies. A public trading market having the desired depth, liquidity and orderliness depends on the presence of a sufficient number of willing buyers and sellers for our voting common stock at any given time. This presence is impacted by general economic and market conditions and investors’ views of us. Because our trading volume is limited relative to larger financial services companies, any significant sales of our shares could cause a decline in the market value of our voting common stock.

The price of our voting common stock may fluctuate significantly, and this may make it difficult for you to resell our voting common stock when you want or at prices you find attractive.

We cannot predict how our voting common stock will trade in the future. The market value of our voting common stock will likely continue to fluctuate in response to a number of factors including the

 

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following, most of which are beyond our control, as well as the other factors described in this “Risk Factors” section:

 

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actual or anticipated quarterly fluctuations in our operating and financial results;

 

•

developments related to investigations, proceedings or litigation that involve us;

 

•

changes in financial estimates and recommendations by financial analysts;

 

•

dispositions, acquisitions and financings;

 

•

actions of our current shareholders, including sales of stock by existing shareholders and our directors and executive officers;

 

•

fluctuations in the stock prices and operating results of our competitors;

 

•

regulatory developments; and

 

•

other developments related to the financial services industry.

The market value of our voting common stock may also be affected by conditions affecting the financial markets in general, including price and trading fluctuations. These conditions may result in (i) volatility in the level of, and fluctuations in, the market prices of stocks generally and, in turn, our voting common stock and (ii) sales of substantial amounts of our voting common stock in the market, in each case that could be unrelated or disproportionate to changes in our operating performance. These broad fluctuations may adversely affect the market value of our voting common stock.

There may be future sales of additional common stock or other dilution of our equity, which may adversely affect the market price of our voting common stock.

We are not restricted from issuing additional common stock or preferred stock, including any securities that are convertible into or exchangeable for, or that represent the right to receive, common stock or preferred stock or any substantially similar securities. The market price of our voting common stock could decline as a result of sales by us of a large number of shares of common stock or preferred stock or similar securities or from the perception that such sales could occur.

Our board of directors is authorized generally to cause us to issue additional common stock, as well as series of preferred stock, without any action on the part of our shareholders except as may be required under the listing requirements of the NASDAQ Stock Market. Our board also has the power to amend our charter, without shareholder approval, to increase the number of shares of stock we are authorized to issue. In addition, the board has the power, without shareholder approval, to set the terms of any such series of preferred stock that may be issued, including voting rights, dividend rights and preferences over the common stock with respect to dividends or upon the liquidation, dissolution or winding-up of our business and other terms. If we issue preferred stock in the future that has a preference over the common stock with respect to the payment of dividends or upon liquidation, dissolution or winding-up, or if we issue preferred stock with voting rights that dilute the voting power of the common Stock, the rights of holders of the voting common stock or the market price of the voting common stock could be adversely affected. In this regard, we have applied for participation in the U.S. Treasury’s Small Business Lending Fund (“SBLF”) program, which is intended to encourage lending to small businesses by providing capital to qualified community banks with assets of less than $10 billion. If we participate in the SBLF program, we will issue to the U.S. Treasury shares of preferred stock with a dividend and liquidation preference over our common stock. The dividend rate would fluctuate based upon the extent to which we increase our lending to small businesses. Initially, the annual dividend rate under the SBLF program will not exceed 5%, but will increase to 9% after 4.5 years if the participating Bank has not repaid its SBLF funding by that time.

 

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We will retain broad discretion in using the net proceeds from this offering, and may not use the proceeds effectively.

We intend to use the net proceeds from this offering for general corporate purposes, which may include, without limitation, making investments at the holding company level, providing capital to support the Bank, supporting organic growth, and engaging in acquisitions or other business combinations.

We have not designated the amount of net proceeds we will use for any particular purpose. Accordingly, our management will retain broad discretion to allocate the net proceeds of this offering. The net proceeds may be applied in ways with which you may not agree. Moreover, our management may use the proceeds for corporate purposes that may not increase our market value or make us more profitable. In addition, it may take us some time to effectively deploy the proceeds from the offering. Until the proceeds are effectively deployed, our return on equity and earnings per share may be negatively impacted. Management’s failure to use the net proceeds of the offering effectively could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Regulatory restrictions may limit or prevent us from paying dividends on our common stock.

First PacTrust Bancorp is an entity separate and distinct from Pacific Trust Bank and derives substantially all of its revenue in the form of dividends from the Bank. Accordingly, First PacTrust Bancorp is and will be dependent upon dividends from the Bank to pay the principal of and interest on its indebtedness, to satisfy its other cash needs and to pay dividends on its capital stock. The Bank’s ability to pay dividends is subject to its ability to earn net income and to meet certain regulatory requirements. If the Bank is unable to pay dividends, First PacTrust Bancorp may not be able to service its debt, pay its other obligations or pay dividends on common stock which could have a material adverse impact on our financial condition or the value of your investment in our securities.

Our common stock constitutes equity and is subordinate to our existing and future indebtedness and effectively subordinated to all the indebtedness and other non-common equity claims against our subsidiaries.

The shares of our common stock represent equity interests in us and do not constitute indebtedness. Accordingly, the shares of our common stock will rank junior to all of our existing and future indebtedness and to other non-equity claims on First PacTrust Bancorp with respect to assets available to satisfy claims on First PacTrust Bancorp. Additionally, holders of our common stock may be subject to the prior dividend and liquidation rights of the holders of any series of our preferred stock that may be outstanding at a particular point in time. In addition, our right to participate in any distribution of assets of any of our subsidiaries upon the subsidiary’s liquidation or otherwise, and thus the ability of a holder of our common stock to benefit indirectly from such distribution, will be subject to the prior claims of creditors of that subsidiary, except to the extent that any of our claims as a creditor of such subsidiary may be recognized. As a result, holders of our common stock will be effectively subordinated to all existing and future liabilities and obligations of our subsidiaries. At March 31, 2011, the Bank’s total deposits and borrowings were approximately $694.4 million.

Our executive officers and directors and the directors of the Bank could have the ability to influence shareholder actions in a manner that may be adverse to your personal investment objectives.

As of June 21, 2011, our executive officers and directors and the directors of the Bank as a group beneficially owned 895,235 shares of our voting common stock, representing approximately 10.3% of the total shares of voting common stock outstanding as of that date. Due to their collective ownership interest, these individuals may be able to exercise influence over the management and business affairs of our company and the Bank. For example, using their collective voting power, these individuals may be able to influence the outcome of director elections or block significant transactions, such as a merger or acquisition, or any other matter that might otherwise be favored by other shareholders.

 

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Anti-takeover provisions could negatively impact our shareholders.

Provisions in our charter and bylaws, the corporate laws of the State of Maryland and federal regulations could delay, defer or prevent a third party from acquiring us, despite the possible benefit to our shareholders, or otherwise adversely affect the market price of any class of our equity securities, including our common stock. These provisions include: a prohibition on voting shares of common stock beneficially owned in excess of 10% of total shares outstanding, supermajority voting requirements for certain business combinations with any person who beneficially owns 10% or more of our outstanding common stock; the election of directors to staggered terms of three years; advance notice requirements for nominations for election to our board of directors and for proposing matters that shareholders may act on at shareholder meetings, a requirement that only directors may fill a vacancy in our board of directors, and a supermajority voting requirements to remove any of our directors. Our charter also authorizes our board of directors to issue preferred stock, and preferred stock could be issued as a defensive measure in response to a takeover proposal. In addition, pursuant to OTS regulations, as a general matter, no person or company, acting individually or in concert with others, may acquire more than 10% of our common stock without prior approval from the OTS.

These provisions may discourage potential takeover attempts, discourage bids for our common stock at a premium over market price or adversely affect the market price of, and the voting and other rights of the holders of, our common stock. These provisions could also discourage proxy contests and make it more difficult for holders of our common stock to elect directors other than the candidates nominated by our board of directors. In addition, because of the voting limitation in our charter referred to above, the voting rights any person or group acquiring beneficial ownership of more than 10% of the outstanding shares of our common stock will not be commensurate with their economic interest in our company.

 

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USE OF PROCEEDS

We estimate that the net proceeds to us from the sale of the voting common stock in this offering will be approximately $3.0 million (or approximately $3.5 million if the maximum number of Additional Shares are to be purchased as a result of exercise in full of the over-allotment option to purchase additional shares granted to the underwriters in connection with the Separate Public Offering). We will not pay any underwriting discounts or any commissions or fees to any underwriter or placement agent in connection with this offering. The estimated net proceeds of this offering exclude the estimated net proceeds of approximately $23.0 million we expect to receive from the sale of our voting common stock in the Separate Public Offering (or approximately $26.5 million if the underwriters of the Separate Public Offering exercise their over-allotment option in full).

We intend to use the net proceeds from this offering and from the Separate Public Offering for general corporate purposes, which may include, without limitation, investments at the holding company level, capital infusions to support the growth of the Bank, acquisitions or other business combinations and other business opportunities. Our management will retain broad discretion in the allocation of net proceeds.

 

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PRICE RANGE OF VOTING COMMON STOCK AND DIVIDENDS

Our voting common stock is listed on the NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol “FPTB.” The following table sets forth, for the periods indicated, the high and low closing sales prices per share of our voting common stock as reported on the NASDAQ Global Market, as well as the cash dividends declared per share of common stock for each of those periods.

 

Year Ended December 31, 2009		High				Low				Cash Dividend Declared
First quarter		$	9.65			$	5.67			$	0.10
Second quarter			8.60				6.00				0.05
Third quarter			8.28				5.54				0.05
Fourth quarter			7.00				4.70				0.05
Year Ended December 31, 2010
First quarter		$	8.40			$	5.35			$	0.05
Second quarter			10.30				7.12				0.05
Third quarter			10.70				7.21				0.05
Fourth quarter			13.27				10.45				0.10
Year Ending December 31, 2011
First quarter		$	16.68			$	13.32			$	0.105
Second quarter (through June 21, 2011)			16.73				13.55				0.11

On June 21, 2011, the last reported sale price of our voting common stock was $16.26 per share. On June 21, 2011, we had approximately 240 holders of record of our voting common stock. This total does not reflect the number of persons or entities who hold stock in “street” name through various banks, brokerage firms and other nominees. As of June 21, 2011, there were 8,700,200 shares of our voting common stock issued and outstanding and 1,036,156 shares of our Class B non-voting non-convertible common stock issued and outstanding. Holders of our Class B non-voting non-convertible common stock rank equally with the holders of our voting common stock with respect to dividends and with respect to all other matters, except that holders of the Class B common stock do not have voting rights except as required by law. See “Description of Common Stock and Preferred Stock—Common Stock” in the accompanying prospectus.

The timing and amount of cash dividends paid on our common stock depends on our earnings, capital requirements, financial condition and other relevant factors and is subject to the discretion of our board of directors. Reflecting consideration of these factors, in recent periods, we have steadily increased our quarterly cash dividend, from $0.05 per share to $0.10 per share in the fourth quarter of 2011, from $0.10 per share to $0.105 per share in the first quarter of 2011 and from $0.105 per share to $0.11 per share in the second quarter of 2011. The primary sources for dividends paid to our shareholders are funds maintained at the holding company level and dividends paid to us from the Bank. There are regulatory restrictions on the ability of the Bank to pay dividends. Under federal regulations, the dollar amount of dividends a federal thrift may pay depends upon its capital position and recent net income. Generally, the Bank may not declare or pay a cash dividend on its stock if it would cause its regulatory capital to be reduced below the amount required for the liquidation account established in connection with the Bank’s 2002 conversion from the mutual to the stock form of ownership or to meet applicable regulatory capital requirements. Pursuant to OTS regulations, the Bank generally may make capital distributions during any calendar year equal to net income for the calendar year-to-date plus net income for the previous two calendar year-to-date periods, assuming the distribution would not cause regulatory capital to be reduced below the required amount. The Bank is required to provide notice to the OTS 30 days prior to the declaration of a dividend. At March 31, 2011, the Bank would have been permitted under OTS regulations to make capital distributions of up to approximately $2.1 million. To declare a dividend in excess of this amount, the Bank would be required to file an application with the OTS subject to its review and approval.

 

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CAPITALIZATION

The following table sets forth our capitalization as of March 31, 2011. Our capitalization is presented on a historical basis and on an as adjusted basis to give effect to the sale of 207,360 shares of voting common stock in this offering and the sale of 1,583,641 shares in the Separate Public Offering and assuming:

 

•

the net proceeds of this offering are $3.0 million;

 

•

the net proceeds of the Separate Public Offering are $23.0 million, after deducting the underwriting discount and estimated offering expenses;

 

•

the over-allotment option granted to the underwriters of the Separate Public Offering is not exercised and, consequently, no Additional Shares are sold in this offering.

The financial data below should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and notes thereto incorporated by reference in this prospectus supplement.

 

		At March 31, 2011
		Actual				As  Adjusted(1)
		(In Thousands) (Unaudited)
Liabilities:
Deposits		$	634,410			$	634,410
Federal Home Loan Bank advances			60,000				60,000
Accrued expenses and other liabilities			4,923				4,923
Total liabilities		$	699,333			$	699,333
Shareholders’ equity:
Preferred stock, $0.01 par value
Authorized shares—50,000,000
Issued and outstanding shares—none		$	—			$	—
Common stock—$0.01 par value
Authorized shares—200,000,000
Issued and outstanding shares of voting common stock—9,863,390 and 8,692,910, respectively, actual; 11,654,391 and 10,483,911 respectively, as adjusted			99				117
Issued and outstanding shares of non-voting common stock—1,036,156			10				10
Additional paid-in capital			119,497				145,501
Additional paid-in capital-warrants			3,172				3,172
Retained earnings			35,448				35,448
Treasury stock (voting common stock), at cost (1,170,480 shares)			(25,139	)			(25,139	)
Unearned Employee Stock Ownership Plan shares (31,740 shares)			(381	)			(381	)
Accumulated other comprehensive income			2,944				2,944
Total stockholders’ equity		$	135,650			$	161,672

 

(1)

If the underwriters of the Separate Public Offering exercise their over-allotment option in full, a combined total of 2,059,651 shares of voting common stock would be sold in this offering and in the Separate Public Offering, resulting in estimated combined net proceeds of $30.0 million and total shareholders’ equity would increase to $165.6 million.

 

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DESCRIPTION OF CAPITAL STOCK

A description of certain of the terms and provisions of our capital stock, our charter and bylaws and Maryland law that could affect the holders of our voting common stock is set forth in the accompanying prospectus under “Description of Common Stock and Preferred Stock.”

Subsequent to the date of the accompanying prospectus, we took several actions that affect the information set forth in that section of the accompanying prospectus. In December 2010, we redeemed all of the outstanding shares of our Fixed Rate Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series A, issued to the U.S. Treasury pursuant to the TARP Capital Purchase Program, and none of those shares remain outstanding. In January 2011, we repurchased the warrant issued to the U.S. Treasury pursuant to the TARP Capital Purchase Program. In March 2011, we amended our charter to increase the number of shares of common stock we are authorized to issue from 20,000,000 to 200,000,000 and the number of shares of preferred stock we are authorized to issue from 5,000,000 to 50,000,000. In May 2011, in connection with the adoption of our dividend reinvestment plan, our board of directors approved the designation of an additional 300,000 of the authorized shares of our common stock as Class B non-voting non-convertible common stock, bringing the total number of authorized shares with that designation to 3,136,156.

PLAN OF DISTRIBUTION

We are offering for sale to the Existing Investors pursuant to existing contractual rights given to them in connection with our November 2010 $60.0 million common stock offering, 207,360 shares of our voting common stock at a price of $14.6475 per share, which represents the same price as the price per share offered to the public, net of underwriting discounts and commissions, in the Separate Public Offering. To the extent the underwriters of the Separate Public Offering exercise their over-allotment option to purchase additional shares in the Separate Public Offering, we will offer and sell to the Existing Investors the Additional Shares, with the percentage of Additional Shares to be purchased by each of them equal to the same percentage of the over-allotment option exercised by the underwriters. We will not pay any underwriting discounts or any commissions or fees to any underwriter or placement agent in connection with this offering.

Each of the Existing Investors may be an “underwriter” within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

The expenses of this offering payable by us are estimated to be approximately $10,000.

LEGAL MATTERS

Certain legal matters relating to the offering of the voting common stock will be passed upon for us by Silver, Freedman & Taff, L.L.P., Washington, D.C.

EXPERTS

The consolidated financial statements of First PacTrust Bancorp, Inc. as of December 31, 2010 and 2009, and for each of the years in the three year period ended December 31, 2010, have been incorporated by reference herein in reliance upon the report of Crowe Horwath LLP, independent registered public accounting firm, incorporated by reference herein, and upon the authority of said firm as experts in accounting and auditing.

 

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PROSPECTUS

$250,000,000

Debt Securities

Common Stock

Preferred Stock

Depositary Shares

Purchase Contracts

Warrants

Rights

Units

We may offer and sell from time to time, in one or more series, our debt securities, which may consist of notes, debentures, or other evidences of indebtedness, shares of our common stock or preferred stock, depositary shares, purchase contracts, warrants, rights and units comprised of two or more of these securities in any combination. The debt securities and preferred stock may be convertible into or exchangeable for other securities of ours. This prospectus provides you with a general description of these securities. Each time we offer any securities pursuant to this prospectus, we will provide you with a prospectus supplement, and, if necessary, a pricing supplement, that will describe the specific amounts, prices and terms of the securities being offered. These supplements may also add, update or change information contained in this prospectus. To understand the terms of the securities offered, you should carefully read this prospectus with the applicable supplements, which together provide the specific terms of the securities we are offering.

Our voting common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol “FPTB.”

Investing in our securities involves risks. See the section entitled “Risk Factors” contained on page 11 of this prospectus and in the applicable prospectus supplement.

These securities are not deposits or obligations of a bank or savings association and are not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency.

This prospectus may be used to offer and sell securities only if accompanied by the prospectus supplement for those securities.

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or determined that this prospectus or the accompanying prospectus supplement is accurate or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

The date of this prospectus is November 23, 2010

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IMPORTANT NOTICE ABOUT INFORMATION PRESENTED IN THIS PROSPECTUS AND THE ACCOMPANYING PROSPECTUS SUPPLEMENT

We may provide information to you about the securities we are offering in three separate documents that progressively provide more detail:

 

•

this prospectus, which provides general information, some of which may not apply to your securities;

 

•

the accompanying prospectus supplement, which describes the terms of the securities, some of which may not apply to your securities; and

 

•

if necessary, a pricing supplement, which describes the specific terms of your securities.

If the terms of your securities vary among the pricing supplement, the prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus, you should rely on the information in the following order of priority:

 

•

the pricing supplement, if any;

 

•

the prospectus supplement; and

 

•

the prospectus.

We include cross-references in this prospectus and the accompanying prospectus supplement to captions in these materials where you can find further related discussions. The following table of contents and the table of contents included in the accompanying prospectus supplement provide the pages on which these captions are located.

Unless indicated in the applicable prospectus supplement, we have not taken any action that would permit us to publicly sell these securities in any jurisdiction outside the United States. If you are an investor outside the United States, you should inform yourself about and comply with any restrictions as to the offering of the securities and the distribution of this prospectus.

 

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

		Page
IMPORTANT NOTICE ABOUT INFORMATION PRESENTED IN THIS PROSPECTUS AND THE ACCOMPANYING PROSPECTUS SUPPLEMENT			2
ABOUT THIS PROSPECTUS			4
WHERE YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION			4
SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS			6
PROSPECTUS SUMMARY			9
RISK FACTORS			11
FIRST PACTRUST BANCORP, INC.			11
CONSOLIDATED RATIOS OF EARNINGS TO FIXED CHARGES AND PREFERRED STOCK DIVIDEND REQUIREMENT			12
USE OF PROCEEDS			12
REGULATION AND SUPERVISION			12
DESCRIPTION OF DEBT SECURITIES			13
DESCRIPTION OF COMMON STOCK AND PREFERRED STOCK			25
DESCRIPTION OF DEPOSITARY SHARES			35
DESCRIPTION OF PURCHASE CONTRACTS			39
DESCRIPTION OF WARRANTS			39
DESCRIPTION OF RIGHTS			41
DESCRIPTION OF UNITS			42
DESCRIPTION OF GLOBAL SECURITIES			43
PLAN OF DISTRIBUTION			44
LEGAL MATTERS			46
EXPERTS			46

 

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ABOUT THIS PROSPECTUS

This prospectus is part of a registration statement that we filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the “SEC,” utilizing a “shelf” registration process. Under this shelf registration process, we may from time to time offer and sell the securities described in this prospectus in one or more offerings, up to a total dollar amount for all offerings of $250,000,000. This prospectus provides you with a general description of the securities covered by it. Each time we offer these securities, we will provide a prospectus supplement that will contain specific information about the terms of the offer and include a discussion of any risk factors or other special considerations that apply to the securities. The prospectus supplement may also add, update or change information contained in this prospectus. You should read this prospectus, the applicable prospectus supplement and any pricing supplement together with the additional information described under the heading “Where You Can Find More Information.”

All references in this prospectus to “we,” “us,” “our” or similar references mean First PacTrust Bancorp, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries and all references in this prospectus to “First PacTrust Bancorp” mean First PacTrust Bancorp, Inc. excluding its subsidiaries, in each case unless otherwise expressly stated or the context otherwise requires. When we refer to “Pacific Trust Bank” in this prospectus, we mean our subsidiary, Pacific Trust Bank, which is a federal savings bank. We sometimes refer to Pacific Trust Bank as the “Bank.”

WHERE YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION

We have filed with the SEC a registration statement under the Securities Act of 1933, or the “Securities Act,” that registers the offer and sale of the securities that we may offer under this prospectus. The registration statement, including the attached exhibits and schedules included or incorporated by reference in the registration statement, contains additional relevant information about us. The rules and regulations of the SEC allow us to omit certain information included in the registration statement from this prospectus. In addition, we file reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, or the “Exchange Act.”

You may read and copy this information at the Public Reference Room of the SEC, located at 100 F Street, N.E., Room 1580, Washington, D.C. 20549. You may also obtain copies of this information by mail from the Public Reference Room at prescribed rates. You may obtain information on the operation of the Public Reference Room by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330.

The SEC also maintains an Internet world wide web site that contains reports, proxy statements and other information about issuers like us who file electronically with the SEC. The address of that site is:

http://www.sec.gov

The SEC allows us to “incorporate by reference” information into this prospectus. This means that we can disclose important information to you by referring you to another document that we file separately with the SEC. The information incorporated by reference is considered to be a part of this prospectus, except for any information that is superseded by information that is included directly in this document or in a more recent incorporated document.

 

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This prospectus incorporates by reference the documents listed below that we have previously filed with the SEC (excluding any portion of these documents that has been furnished to and deemed not to be filed with the SEC).

 

Report(s)		Period(s) of Report(s) or Date(s) Filed
• Annual Report on Form 10-K (including the portions of our definitive proxy statement on Schedule 14A filed on March 22, 2010 and incorporated therein by reference)		For the year ended December 31, 2009
• Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q		For the quarters ended March 31, 2010, June 30, 2010 and September 30, 2010
• Current Reports on Form 8-K		Filed on February 10, 2010, February 24, 2010, April 8, 2010, April 23, 2010, May 26, 2010, July 27, 2010, September 1, 2010, October 26, 2010, October 28, 2010, November 1, 2010, November 3, 2010 (as amended on Form 8-K/A filed on November 16, 2010), November 4, 2010 (as amended on Form 8-K/A filed on November 4, 2010), November 5, 2010 and November 19, 2010

This prospectus also incorporates by reference the description of our common stock set forth in the Registration Statement on Form 8-A filed on May 8, 2002, and any amendment or report filed with the SEC for the purpose of updating such description.

In addition, we incorporate by reference all future documents that we file with the SEC under Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act after the date of our initial registration statement relating to the securities until the completion of the offering of the securities covered by this prospectus or until we terminate this offering. These documents include periodic reports, such as annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K (other than current reports furnished under Items 2.02 or 7.01 of Form 8-K), as well as proxy statements.

The information incorporated by reference contains information about us and our business, financial condition and results of operations and is an important part of this prospectus.

You can obtain any of the documents incorporated by reference in this document through us, or from the SEC through the SEC’s Internet world wide web site at www.sec.gov. Documents incorporated by reference are available from us without charge, excluding any exhibits to those documents, unless the exhibit is specifically incorporated by reference in those documents. You can obtain documents incorporated by reference in this prospectus by requesting them in writing or by telephone from us at the following address:

First PacTrust Bancorp, Inc.

Attention: Investor Relations

610 Bay Boulevard

Chula Vista, California 91910

(619) 691-1519

In addition, we maintain a corporate website, www.firstpactrustbancorp.com. We make available, through our website (by clicking “About Us” and then “Investor Relations Information”), our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and any

 

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amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC. This reference to our website is for the convenience of investors as required by the SEC and shall not be deemed to incorporate any information on the website into this prospectus.

We have not authorized anyone to give any information or make any representation about us that is different from, or in addition to, those contained in this prospectus or in any of the materials that we have incorporated into this prospectus. If anyone does give you information of this sort, you should not rely on it. If you are in a jurisdiction where offers to sell, or solicitations of offers to purchase, the securities offered by this document are unlawful, or if you are a person to whom it is unlawful to direct these types of activities, then the offer presented in this document does not extend to you. The information contained in this document speaks only as of the date of this document unless the information specifically indicates that another date applies.

SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This prospectus, the applicable prospectus supplements and the other documents we incorporate by reference in this prospectus, may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements often include the words “believes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “estimates,” “forecasts,” “intends,” “plans,” “targets,” “potentially,” “probably,” “projects,” “outlook” or similar expressions or future or conditional verbs such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “would” and “could.” These forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements, including:

 

•

continuation or worsening of current recessionary conditions, as well as continued turmoil in the financial markets;

 

•

our ability to implement our acquisition strategy and the applicability of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) Statement of Policy on Qualifications for Failed Bank Acquisitions to us;

 

•

the credit risks of lending activities, which may be affected by further deterioration in the real estate market, may lead to increased loan delinquencies, losses and nonperforming assets in our loan portfolios, and may result in our allowance for loan losses not being adequate to cover actual losses, and require us to materially increase our loan loss reserves;

 

•

changes in general economic conditions, either nationally or in our market areas;

 

•

changes in the levels of general interest rates, and the relative differences between short- and long-term interest rates, deposit interest rates, our net interest margin and funding sources;

 

•

fluctuations in the demand for loans, the number of unsold homes and other properties and fluctuations in commercial and residential real estate values in our market area;

 

•

results of examinations of us by the Office of Thrift Supervision (the “OTS”) or by other regulatory authorities, including our compliance with the memorandum of understanding to which we are currently subject and the possibility that any such regulatory authority may, among other things, require us to increase our allowance for loan losses, write-down asset values, increase our capital levels, or affect our ability to borrow funds or maintain or increase deposits, which could adversely affect our liquidity and earnings;

 

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•

legislative or regulatory changes that adversely affect our business, including changes in the interpretation of regulatory capital or other rules;

 

•

our ability to control operating costs and expenses;

 

•

our ability to successfully integrate any assets, liabilities, customers, systems, and management personnel we have acquired or may in the future acquire into our operations and our ability to realize related revenue synergies and cost savings within expected time frames and any related goodwill charges;

 

•

staffing fluctuations in response to product demand or the implementation of corporate strategies that affect our work force and potential associated charges;

 

•

errors in our estimates in determining fair value of certain of our assets, which may result in significant declines in valuation;

 

•

the network and computer systems on which we depend could fail or experience a security breach;

 

•

our ability to attract and retain key members of our senior management team;

 

•

costs and effects of litigation, including settlements and judgments;

 

•

increased competitive pressures among financial services companies;

 

•

changes in consumer spending, borrowing and savings habits;

 

•

adverse changes in the securities markets;

 

•

earthquake, fire or other natural disasters affecting the condition of real estate collateral;

 

•

the availability of resources to address changes in laws, rules, or regulations or to respond to regulatory actions;

 

•

inability of key third-party providers to perform their obligations to us;

 

•

changes in accounting policies and practices, as may be adopted by the financial institution regulatory agencies or the Financial Accounting Standards Board or their application to our business or final audit adjustments, including additional guidance and interpretation on accounting issues and details of the implementation of new accounting methods;

 

•

war or terrorist activities; and

 

•

other economic, competitive, governmental, regulatory, and technological factors affecting our operations, pricing, products and services and the other risks described elsewhere in this prospectus, the accompanying prospectus supplement and the incorporated documents.

Additionally, the timing and occurrence or non-occurrence of events may be subject to circumstances beyond our control.

Any forward-looking statements are based upon management’s beliefs and assumptions at the time they are made. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements included or incorporated by reference in this prospectus or the accompanying prospectus

 

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supplement or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those contained in such statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking statements discussed in this prospectus, the accompanying prospectus supplement or the incorporated documents might not occur, and you should not put undue reliance on any forward-looking statements.

 

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RISK FACTORS

Before making an investment decision, you should carefully consider the risks described under “Risk Factors” in the applicable prospectus supplement and in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, and in our updates to those Risk Factors in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K, together with all of the other information appearing in this prospectus or incorporated by reference into this prospectus and any applicable prospectus supplement, in light of your particular investment objectives and financial circumstances. In addition to those risk factors, there may be additional risks and uncertainties of which management is not aware of focused on or that management deems immaterial. Our business, financial condition or results or operations could be materially adversely affected by any of these risks. The trading price of our securities could decline due to any of these risks, and you may lose all or part of your investment.

FIRST PACTRUST BANCORP, INC.

First PacTrust Bancorp, Inc. is a savings and loan holding company incorporated in the State of Maryland. We are primarily engaged in the business of planning, directing and coordinating the business activities of our wholly owned subsidiary, Pacific Trust Bank, a federal savings bank. We are a community-oriented financial institution offering a variety of financial services to meet the needs of the communities we serve. We are headquartered in Chula Vista, California, a suburb of San Diego, California, and currently have nine banking offices primarily serving San Diego and Riverside Counties in California. We recently announced our agreement to acquire a bank branch building in La Jolla, California from the FDIC, which we expect to open in the first quarter of 2011, subject to regulatory approval.

Our principal business consists of attracting retail deposits from the general public and investing these funds primarily in permanent loans secured by first mortgages on owner-occupied, one-to four-family residences and a variety of consumer loans. We also originate loans secured by multi-family and commercial real estate and, to a limited extent, commercial business loans. First PacTrust Bancorp is currently subject to regulation by the OTS and the Bank is subject to regulation by the OTS and the FDIC. As a result of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”), on July 21, 2011 (unless extended for up to six months), the responsibility and authority of the OTS to regulate savings and loan holding companies, including First PacTrust Bancorp, will be transferred to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the “Federal Reserve Board”) and the responsibility and authority of the OTS to regulate federal savings banks, including Pacific Trust Bank, will be transferred to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (the “OCC”).

As of September 30, 2010, we had total consolidated assets of $862.7 million, total net loans of $689.1 million, total deposits of $684.8 million and total stockholders’ equity of $98.9 million. On November 1, 2010, we substantially increased our stockholders’ equity by selling shares of common stock in a private placement to select institutional and other accredited investors, providing us with aggregate gross proceeds of $60.0 million. The primary purpose of the private placement was to enable us to repurchase all of the $19.3 million of Fixed Rate Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series A (“Series A Preferred Stock”), that we issued to the U.S. Department of the Treasury (the “U.S. Treasury”) on November 21, 2008 pursuant to the TARP Capital Purchase Program and to pursue organic growth and strategic opportunities in our target markets, including acquisitions. Subject to approval of the U.S. Treasury and the OTS, we expect to complete the repurchase of the Series A Preferred Stock in the fourth quarter of 2010 and also plan to negotiate with the U.S. Treasury for the repurchase of the ten-year warrant to purchase 280,795 shares of Common Stock at an exercise price of $10.31 per share that we issued to the U.S. Treasury on November 21, 2008.

 

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Our common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Market under the ticker symbol “FPTB.” Our principal executive offices are located at 610 Bay Boulevard, Chula Vista, California 91910. Our telephone number is (619) 691-1519.

Additional information about us and our subsidiaries is included in documents incorporated by reference in this prospectus. See “Where You Can Find More Information” on page 4 of this prospectus.

CONSOLIDATED RATIOS OF EARNINGS TO FIXED CHARGES AND PREFERRED STOCK DIVIDEND REQUIREMENT

Our historical consolidated ratios of earnings to fixed charges and preferred stock dividend requirement for the periods indicated, both including and excluding interest on deposits, are set forth in the table below. The ratio of earnings to fixed charges and preferred stock dividend requirement is computed by dividing (i) income from continuing operations before income taxes and fixed charges by (ii) the sum of total fixed charges and (pre-tax) preferred stock dividend requirement. For purposes of computing these ratios, fixed charges excluding interest on deposits represents interest expense on Federal Home Loan Bank advances and other borrowed funds and fixed charges including interest on deposits represents all interest expense.

 

Nine Months Ended September 30,

Year Ended December 31,

2010

2009

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

Ratio of Earnings to Fixed Charges and Preferred Stock Dividend Requirement

Excluding interest on deposits

1.81x

0.77x

0.47x

0.63x

1.68x

1.95x

2.56x

Including interest on deposits

1.22x

0.93x

0.84x

0.91x

1.12x

1.26x

1.44x

USE OF PROCEEDS

We intend to use the net proceeds from the sale of the securities for general corporate purposes unless otherwise indicated in the prospectus supplement relating to a specific issue of securities. Our general corporate purposes may include, without limitation, financing acquisitions, repurchasing our securities, extending credit to, or funding investments in, our subsidiaries and repaying, reducing or refinancing indebtedness.

The precise amounts and the timing of our use of the net proceeds will depend upon market conditions, our subsidiaries’ funding requirements, the availability of other funds and other factors. Until we use the net proceeds from the sale of any of our securities for general corporate purposes, we expect to use the net proceeds to reduce our indebtedness or for temporary investments. We expect that we will, on a recurrent basis, engage in additional financings as the need arises to finance our corporate strategies, to fund our subsidiaries, to finance acquisitions or otherwise.

REGULATION AND SUPERVISION

Our principal subsidiary, Pacific Trust Bank, is a federally-chartered stock savings bank and is currently subject to regulation and supervision by the OTS and by the FDIC. As the holding company for First Federal, we are a savings and loan holding company currently subject to regulation and supervision by the OTS. As noted above, a result of the Dodd-Frank Act, on July 21, 2011 (unless extended for up to six months), the Bank’s primary regulatory authority will change from the OTS to the OCC and First PacTrust Bancorp’s regulatory authority will change from the OTS to the Federal Reserve Board.

 

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Dividends, loans and advances from Pacific Trust Bank are restricted by certain laws and regulations. The FDIC and the OTS can limit the Bank’s payment of dividends based on, among other factors, the maintenance of adequate capital.

In addition, there are various statutory and regulatory limitations on the extent to which the Bank can finance First PacTrust Bancorp or otherwise transfer funds or assets to First PacTrust Bancorp, whether in the form of loans, extensions of credit, investments or asset purchases. These extensions of credit and other transactions involving the Bank and First PacTrust Bancorp are limited in amount to 10% of the Bank’s capital and surplus and, with respect to First PacTrust Bancorp and any nonbanking subsidiaries, to an aggregate of 20% of the Bank’s capital and surplus. Furthermore, loans and extensions of credit are required to be secured in specified amounts and are required to be on terms and conditions consistent with safe and sound banking practices.

For a discussion of the material elements of the regulatory framework currently applicable to savings and loan holding companies and their subsidiaries, and specific information relevant to us, you should refer to our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and the subsequent quarterly and current reports filed by us with the SEC pursuant to the Exchange Act, which are incorporated by reference in this prospectus. As described in these reports, the recently enacted Dodd-Frank Act will result in certain changes to the regulation of savings and loan holding companies and their subsidiaries. This regulatory framework is intended primarily for the protection of depositors and the deposit insurance funds rather than for the protection of security holders.

Changes to the laws and regulations applicable to us or our subsidiaries can affect the operating environment of savings and loan holding companies and their subsidiaries in substantial and unpredictable ways. We cannot accurately predict whether those changes in laws and regulations will occur, and, if those changes occur, the ultimate effect they would have upon our or our subsidiaries’ financial condition or results of operations.

DESCRIPTION OF DEBT SECURITIES

We may issue senior debt securities or subordinated debt securities. Senior debt securities will be issued under an indenture, referred to as the “senior indenture,” between us and a senior indenture trustee to be named in the applicable prospectus supplement. Subordinated debt securities will be issued under a separate indenture, referred to as the “subordinated indenture,” between us and a subordinated indenture trustee to be named in the applicable prospectus supplement. The senior indenture and the subordinated indenture are sometimes collectively referred to in this prospectus as the “indentures.” The indentures will be subject to and governed by the Trust Indenture Act of 1939. A copy of the form of each of these indentures is included as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part.

The following briefly describes the general terms and provisions of the debt securities which may be offered and the indentures governing them. The particular terms of the debt securities offered, and the extent, if any, to which these general provisions may apply to the debt securities so offered, will be described in a prospectus supplement relating to those securities. The following descriptions of the indentures are not complete and are subject to, and are qualified in their entirety by reference to, all the provisions of the respective indentures.

General

The indentures permit us to issue the debt securities from time to time, without limitation as to aggregate principal amount, and in one or more series. The indentures also do not limit or otherwise restrict the amount of other indebtedness which we may incur or other securities which we or our

 

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subsidiaries may issue, including indebtedness which may rank senior to the debt securities. Nothing in the subordinated indenture prohibits the issuance of securities representing subordinated indebtedness that is senior or junior to the subordinated debt securities.

Unless we give you different information in the prospectus supplement, the senior debt securities will be unsubordinated obligations and will rank equally with all of our other unsecured and unsubordinated indebtedness. Payments on the subordinated debt securities will be subordinated to the prior payment in full of all of our senior indebtedness, as described under “Description of Debt Securities—Subordination” and in the applicable prospectus supplement.

We may issue debt securities if the conditions contained in the applicable indenture are satisfied. These conditions include the adoption of resolutions by our board of directors that establish the terms of the debt securities being issued. Any resolution approving the issuance of any issue of debt securities will include the terms of that issue of debt securities, which may include:

 

•

the title and series designation;

 

•

the aggregate principal amount and the limit, if any, on the aggregate principal amount or initial issue price of the debt securities which may be issued under the applicable indenture;

 

•

the principal amount payable, whether at maturity or upon earlier acceleration;

 

•

whether the principal amount payable will be determined with reference to an index, formula or other method which may be based on one or more currencies, currency units, composite currencies, commodities, equity indices or other indices;

 

•

whether the debt securities will be issued as original issue discount securities (as defined below);

 

•

the date or dates on which the principal of the debt securities is payable;

 

•

any fixed or variable interest rate or rates per annum or the method or formula for determining an interest rate;

 

•

the date from which any interest will accrue;

 

•

any interest payment dates;

 

•

whether the debt securities are senior or subordinated, and if subordinated, the terms of the subordination;

 

•

the price or prices at which the debt securities will be issued, which may be expressed as a percentage of the aggregate principal amount of those debt securities;

 

•

the stated maturity date;

 

•

whether the debt securities are to be issued in global form;

 

•

any sinking fund requirements;

 

•

any provisions for redemption, the redemption price and any remarketing arrangements;

 

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•

the denominations of the securities or series of securities;

 

•

whether the debt securities are denominated or payable in United States dollars or a foreign currency or units of two or more foreign currencies;

 

•

any restrictions on the offer, sale and delivery of the debt securities;

 

•

the place or places where payments or deliveries on the debt securities will be made and may be presented for registration of transfer or exchange;

 

•

whether any of the debt securities will be subject to defeasance in advance of the date for redemption or the stated maturity date;

 

•

the terms, if any, upon which the debt securities are convertible into other securities of ours or another issuer and the terms and conditions upon which any conversion will be effected, including the initial conversion price or rate, the conversion period and any other provisions in addition to or instead of those described in this prospectus;

 

•

a description of any documents or certificates that must be received prior to the issuance of any definitive securities;

 

•

whether and under what circumstances additional amounts will be paid to non-U.S. citizens in connection with any tax, assessment or governmental charge and whether securities may be redeemed in lieu of paying such additional fees;

 

•

the identity of each security registrar or paying agent (if other than trustee);

 

•

any provisions granting special rights to securities holders upon the occurrence of specified events;

 

•

any deletions from, modifications of, or additions to any default events or covenants set forth in the form of indenture;

 

•

the portion of the principal amount payable upon the declaration of acceleration of the maturity of any securities;

 

•

the date any bearer securities of or within the series and any temporary global security representing outstanding securities shall be dated, if other than date of original issuance; and

 

•

any other terms of the debt securities which are not inconsistent with the provisions of the applicable indenture.

The debt securities may be issued as “original issue discount securities” which bear no interest or interest at a rate which at the time of issuance is below market rates and which will be sold at a substantial discount below their principal amount. If the maturity of any original issue discount security is accelerated, the amount payable to the holder of the security will be determined by the applicable prospectus supplement, the terms of the security and the relevant indenture, but may be an amount less than the amount payable at the maturity of the principal of that original issue discount security. Special federal income tax and other considerations relating to original issue discount securities will be described in the applicable prospectus supplement.

 

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Under the indentures, the terms of the debt securities of any series may differ and we may, without the consent of the holders of the debt securities of any series, reopen a previous series of debt securities and issue additional debt securities of that series or establish additional terms of that series.

Please see the prospectus supplement or pricing supplement you have received or will receive for the terms of the specific debt securities we are offering.

You should be aware that special United States Federal income tax, accounting and other considerations may apply to the debt securities. The prospectus supplement relating to an issue of debt securities will describe these considerations.

Ranking of Debt Securities; Holding Company Structure

Senior Debt Securities.  Payment of the principal of, premium, if any, and interest on senior debt securities will rank on a parity with all of our other unsecured and unsubordinated debt.

Subordinated Debt Securities.  Payment of the principal of, premium, if any, and interest on subordinated debt securities will be junior in right of payment to the prior payment in full of all of our senior indebtedness, including senior debt securities. We will state in the applicable prospectus supplement relating to any subordinated debt securities the subordination terms of the securities as well as the aggregate amount of outstanding debt, as of the most recent practicable date, that by its terms would be senior to those subordinated debt securities. We will also state in that prospectus supplement limitations, if any, on the issuance of additional senior indebtedness.

Holding Company Structure.  The debt securities will be our exclusive obligations. We are a holding company and substantially all of our consolidated assets are held by our subsidiary, Pacific Trust Bank. Accordingly, our cash flows and our ability to service our debt, including the debt securities, are dependent upon the results of operations of our subsidiaries and the distribution of funds by our subsidiaries to us. Various statutory and regulatory restrictions, however, limit directly or indirectly the amount of dividends our subsidiaries can pay, and also restrict certain subsidiaries from making investments in or loans to us.

Because we are a holding company, the debt securities will be effectively subordinated to all existing and future liabilities, including indebtedness, customer deposits, trade payables, guarantees and lease obligations, of our subsidiaries. Therefore, our rights and the rights of our creditors, including the holders of the debt securities, to participate in the assets of any subsidiary upon that subsidiary’s liquidation or reorganization will be subject to the prior claims of the subsidiary’s creditors and, if applicable, its depositors, except to the extent that we may ourselves be a creditor with recognized claims against the subsidiary, in which case our claims would still be effectively subordinate to any security interest in, or mortgages or other liens on, the assets of the subsidiary and would be subordinate to any indebtedness of the subsidiary senior to that held by us. If a receiver or conservator were appointed for Pacific Trust Bank, the Federal Deposit Insurance Act recognizes a priority in favor of the holders of withdrawable deposits (including the FDIC as subrogee or transferee) over general creditors. Claims for customer deposits would have a priority over any claims that we may ourselves have as a creditor of Pacific Trust Bank. Unless otherwise specified in the applicable prospectus supplement, the indentures will not limit the amount of indebtedness or other liabilities that we and our subsidiaries may incur.

Registration and Transfer

Holders may present debt securities in registered form for transfer or exchange for other debt securities of the same series at the offices of the applicable indenture trustee according to the terms of the applicable indenture and the debt securities.

 

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Unless otherwise indicated in the applicable prospectus supplement, the debt securities will be issued in fully registered form, and in denominations of $1,000 and any integral multiple thereof.

No service charge will be required for any transfer or exchange of the debt securities but we generally may require payment of a sum sufficient to cover any tax or other governmental charge payable in connection with any transfer or exchange.

Payment and Place of Payment

We will pay or deliver principal and any premium and interest in the manner, at the places and subject to the restrictions set forth in the applicable indenture, the debt securities and the applicable prospectus supplement. However, at our option, we may pay any interest by check mailed to the holders of registered debt securities at their registered addresses.

Global Securities

Each indenture provides that we may issue debt securities in global form. If any series of debt securities is issued in global form, the prospectus supplement will describe any circumstances under which beneficial owners of interests in any of those global debt securities may exchange their interests for debt securities of that series and of like tenor and principal amount in any authorized form and denomination. See “Description of Global Securities.”

Redemption and Repurchase

The debt securities of any series may be redeemable at our option, may be subject to mandatory redemption pursuant to a sinking fund or otherwise, or may be subject to repurchase by us at the option of the holders, in each case upon the terms, at the times and at the prices set forth in the applicable prospectus supplement and pricing supplement, if any.

Conversion or Exchange Rights

If debt securities may be convertible into or exchangeable for shares of our equity securities or other securities, the terms and conditions of conversion or exchange will be stated in the applicable prospectus supplement. The terms will include, among others, the following:

 

•

the conversion or exchange price;

 

•

the conversion or exchange period;

 

•

provisions regarding the convertibility or exchangeability of the debt securities, including who may convert or exchange;

 

•

events requiring adjustment to the conversion or exchange price;

 

•

provisions affecting conversion or exchange in the event of our redemption of the debt securities; and

 

•

any anti-dilution provisions, if applicable.

Absence of Limitation on Indebtedness and Liens; Absence of Event Risk Protection

Unless otherwise stated in the prospectus supplement relating to a series of debt securities, the indentures will not limit the amount of indebtedness, guarantees or other liabilities that we and our subsidiaries may incur and will not prohibit us or our subsidiaries from creating or assuming liens on

 

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our properties, including the capital stock of Pacific Trust Bank and any other subsidiary. Unless otherwise provided in the related prospectus supplement, the indentures will not require us to maintain any financial ratios or specified levels of net worth, revenues, income, cash flow or liquidity, and will not contain provisions which would give holders of the debt securities the right to require us to repurchase their debt securities in the event we undergo a takeover, recapitalization or similar restructuring or change in control.

Events of Default

Unless otherwise indicated in the applicable prospectus supplement, the following are events of default under the senior indenture with respect to the senior debt securities and under the subordinated indenture with respect to the subordinated debt securities:

 

•

default in the payment of any principal or premium or make-whole amount, if any, on the debt securities when due;

 

•

default in the payment of any interest on the debt securities, or of any coupon pertaining thereto, when due, which continues for 30 days;

 

•

default in the deposit of any sinking fund payment on the debt securities when due;

 

•

default in the performance or breach of any other obligation contained in the applicable indenture for the benefit of that series of debt securities (other than defaults or breaches otherwise specifically addressed), which continues for 90 days after written notice of the default or breach;

 

•

specified events in bankruptcy or insolvency of First PacTrust Bancorp; and

 

•

any other event of default provided with respect to the debt securities of any series.

Unless otherwise indicated in the applicable prospectus supplement, if an event of default occurs and is continuing for any series of senior debt securities, unless the principal amount of all senior debt securities of that particular series has already become due and payable, the indenture trustee or the holders of not less than 25% in aggregate principal amount or, under certain circumstances, issue price of the outstanding senior debt securities of that series may declare all amounts, or any lesser amount provided for in the senior debt securities of that series, to be immediately due and payable.

Unless otherwise indicated in the applicable prospectus supplement, no event of default described in the first, second, third, fourth or sixth bullet points above will permit acceleration of the payment of the principal of the subordinated debt securities. Unless otherwise indicated in the applicable prospectus supplement, if an event of default described under the fifth bullet point above shall have occurred and be continuing, unless the principal amount of all the subordinated debt securities of a particular series has already become due and payable, the indenture trustee or the holders of not less than 25% in aggregate principal amount or, under certain circumstances, issue price of the subordinated debt securities of that series may declare all amounts or any lesser amount provided for in the subordinated debt securities of that series to be immediately due and payable.

At any time after the applicable indenture trustee or the holders have accelerated a series of debt securities, but before the applicable indenture trustee has obtained a judgment or decree for payment of money due, the holders of a majority in aggregate principal amount of outstanding debt securities of that series may rescind and annul that acceleration and its consequences, provided that

 

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all payments and/or deliveries due, other than those due as a result of acceleration, have been made and all events of default have been remedied or waived.

The holders of a majority in principal amount or aggregate issue price of the outstanding debt securities of any series may waive any default with respect to that series, except a default:

 

•

in the payment of any amounts due and payable or deliverable under the debt securities of that series; or

 

•

in an obligation contained in, or a provision of, an indenture which cannot be modified under the terms of that indenture without the consent of each holder of each series of debt securities affected.

The holders of a majority in principal amount of the outstanding debt securities of a series may direct the time, method and place of conducting any proceeding for any remedy available to the applicable indenture trustee or exercising any trust or power conferred on the indenture trustee with respect to debt securities of that series, provided that any direction is not in conflict with any rule of law or the applicable indenture and the trustee may take other actions, other than those that might lead to personal liability, not inconsistent with the direction. Subject to the provisions of the applicable indenture relating to the duties of the indenture trustee, before proceeding to exercise any right or power under the indenture at the direction of the holders, the indenture trustee is entitled to receive from those holders reasonable security or indemnity against the costs, expenses and liabilities which it might incur in complying with any direction.

A holder of any debt security of any series will have the right to institute a proceeding with respect to the applicable indenture or for any remedy under the indenture, if:

 

•

that holder previously gives to the indenture trustee written notice of a continuing event of default with respect to debt securities of that series;

 

•

the holders of not less than 25% in principal amount of the outstanding securities of that series have made written request and offered the indenture trustee indemnity satisfactory to the indenture trustee to institute that proceeding as indenture trustee;

 

•

the indenture trustee has not received from the holders of a majority in principal amount or, under certain circumstances, issue price of the outstanding debt securities of that series a direction inconsistent with the request; and

 

•

the indenture trustee fails to institute the proceeding within 60 days.

However, the holder of any debt security or coupon has the right to receive payment of the principal of (and premium or make-whole amount, if any) and interest on, and any additional amounts in respect of, such debt security or payment of such coupon on the respective due dates (or, in the case of redemption, on the redemption date) and to institute suit for the enforcement of any such payment.

We are required to furnish to the indenture trustees annually a statement as to the performance of our obligations under the indentures and as to any default in that performance of which we are aware.

Modification and Waiver

Unless otherwise indicated in the applicable prospectus supplement, First PacTrust Bancorp and the applicable indenture trustee may amend and modify each indenture or debt securities under

 

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that indenture with the consent of holders of at least a majority in principal amount of each series of all outstanding debt securities then outstanding under the indenture affected. However, without the consent of each holder of any debt security issued under the applicable indenture, we may not amend or modify that indenture to:

 

•

change the stated maturity date of the principal of (or premium or make-whole amount, if any, on), or any installment of principal or interest on, any debt security issued under that indenture;

 

•

reduce the principal amount of or any make-whole amount, the rate of interest on or any additional amounts payable in respect thereof, or any premium payable upon the redemption of any debt security issued under that indenture;

 

•

reduce the amount of principal of an original issue discount security or make-whole amount, if any, issued under that indenture payable upon acceleration of its maturity or provable in bankruptcy;

 

•

change the place or currency of payment of principal or any premium or any make-whole amount or interest on any debt security issued under that indenture;

 

•

impair the right to institute suit for the enforcement of any payment or delivery on or with respect to any debt security issued under that indenture;

 

•

reduce the percentage in principal amount of debt securities of any series issued under that indenture, the consent of whose holders is required to modify or amend the indenture or to waive compliance with certain provisions of the indenture; or

 

•

make any change that adversely affects the right to convert or exchange any security or decrease the conversion/exchange rate or increase the conversion/exchange price.

The holders of at least a majority in principal amount of the outstanding debt securities of any series issued under that indenture may, with respect to that series, waive past defaults under the indenture, except as described under “—Events of Default.”

Unless otherwise indicated in the applicable prospectus supplement, we and the applicable indenture trustee may also amend and modify each indenture without the consent of any holder for any of the following purposes:

 

•

to evidence the succession of another person to First PacTrust Bancorp;

 

•

to add to our covenants for the benefit of the holders of all or any series of debt securities;

 

•

to add events of default for the benefit of the holders of all or any series of debt securities;

 

•

to add or change any provisions of the indentures to facilitate the issuance of bearer securities;

 

•

to change or eliminate any of the provisions of the applicable indenture in respect of any series of debt securities, so long as any such change or elimination will become effective only in respect of any series of securities when there is no outstanding security of that series which is entitled to the benefit of that provision;

 

•

to establish the form or terms of debt securities of any series;

 

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•

to evidence and provide for the acceptance of appointment by a successor indenture trustee;

 

•

to cure any ambiguity, to correct or supplement any provision in the applicable indenture, or to make any other provisions with respect to matters or questions arising under that indenture, so long as the interests of holders of debt securities of any series are not adversely affected in any material respect by the actions taken to cure, correct or supplement a provision in an indenture;

 

•

to secure securities;

 

•

to provide for conversion rights of the holders of the debt securities of any series to enable those holders to convert those securities into other securities;

 

•

to close the indenture with respect to the authentication and delivery of additional series of securities or to qualify or maintain qualifications of the applicable indenture under the Trust Indenture Act; or

 

•

to supplement any of the provisions of an indenture as is necessary to permit or facilitate the defeasance or discharge of any series of securities under specified provisions of the indenture, provided that any such action shall not adversely affect the interests of the holders of securities of such series or any other series of securities under the indenture in any material respect.

Voting

The indentures contain provisions for convening meetings of the holders of debt securities of a series. A meeting will be permitted to be called at any time by the applicable trustee, and also, upon request, by us or the holders of at least 25% in principal amount of the outstanding debt securities of such series, in any such case upon notice given as provided in such indenture. Except for any consent that must be given by the holder of each debt security affected by the modifications and amendments of an indenture described above, any resolution presented at a meeting or adjourned meeting duly reconvened at which a quorum is present may be adopted by the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the aggregate principal amount of the outstanding debt securities of that series represented at such meeting.

Notwithstanding the preceding paragraph, except as referred to above, any resolution relating to a request, demand, authorization, direction, notice, consent, waiver or other action that may be made, given or taken by the holders of a specified percentage, which is less than a majority, of the aggregate principal amount of the outstanding debt securities of a series may be adopted at a meeting or adjourned meeting duly reconvened at which a quorum is present by the affirmative vote of such specified percentage.

Any resolution passed or decision taken at any properly held meeting of holders of debt securities of any series will be binding on all holders of such series. The quorum at any meeting called to adopt a resolution, and at any reconvened meeting, will be persons holding or representing a majority in principal amount of the outstanding debt securities of a series. However, if any action is to be taken relating to a consent or waiver which may be given by the holders of at least a specified percentage in principal amount of the outstanding debt securities of a series, the persons holding such percentage will constitute a quorum.

Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions, the indentures provide that if any action is to be taken at a meeting with respect to any request, demand, authorization, direction, notice, consent,

 

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waiver or other action that such indenture expressly provides may be made, given or taken by the holders of a specified percentage in principal amount of all outstanding debt securities affected by such action, or of the holders of such series and one or more additional series:

 

•

there shall be no minimum quorum requirement for such meeting; and

 

•

the principal amount of the outstanding debt securities of such series that vote in favor of such request, demand, authorization, direction, notice, consent, waiver or other action shall be taken into account in determining whether such request, demand, authorization, direction, notice, consent, waiver or other action has been made, given or taken under such indenture.

Consolidation, Merger and Sale of Assets

Unless otherwise indicated in the applicable prospectus supplement, we may consolidate or merge with or into any other corporation, and we may sell, lease or convey all or substantially all of our assets to any corporation, provided that the resulting corporation, if other than First PacTrust Bancorp, is a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the United States of America or any U.S. state or the District of Colombia and assumes all of our obligations to:

(1) pay or deliver the principal and any premium or make-whole amount, if any, and any interest on, the debt securities;

(2) perform and observe all of our other obligations under the indentures and supplemental indentures; and

(3) we are not, or any successor corporation, as the case may be, is not, immediately after any consolidation or merger, in default under the indentures.

The indentures do not provide for any right of acceleration in the event of a consolidation, merger, sale of all or substantially all of the assets, recapitalization or change in our stock ownership. In addition, the indentures do not contain any provision which would protect the holders of debt securities against a sudden and dramatic decline in credit quality resulting from takeovers, recapitalizations or similar restructurings.

International Offering

If specified in the applicable prospectus supplement, we may issue debt securities outside the United States. Those debt securities will be described in the applicable prospectus supplement. In connection with any offering outside the United States, we will designate paying agents, registrars or other agents with respect to the debt securities, as specified in the applicable prospectus supplement.

We will describe in the applicable prospectus supplement whether our debt securities issued outside the United States: (1) may be subject to certain selling restrictions; (2) may be listed on one or more foreign stock exchanges; and (3) may have special United States tax and other considerations applicable to an offering outside the United States.

 

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Defeasance

We may terminate or “defease” our obligations under the applicable indenture with respect to the debt securities of any series by taking the following steps:

(1)        depositing irrevocably with the indenture trustee an amount, which through the payment of interest, principal or premium, if any, will provide an amount sufficient to pay the entire amount of the debt securities:

 

•

in the case of debt securities denominated in U.S. dollars, U.S. dollars or U.S. government obligations;

 

•

in the case of debt securities denominated in a foreign currency, of money in that foreign currency or foreign government obligations of the foreign government or governments issuing that foreign currency; or

 

•

a combination of money and U.S. government obligations or foreign government obligations, as applicable;

(2)        delivering:

 

•

an opinion of independent counsel that the holders of the debt securities of that series will have no federal income tax consequences as a result of that deposit and termination;

 

•

an opinion of independent counsel that registration is not required under the Investment Company Act of 1940;

 

•

an opinion of counsel as to certain other matters;

 

•

officers’ certificates certifying as to compliance with the senior indenture and other matters; and

(3)        paying all other amounts due under the indenture.

Further, the defeasance cannot cause an event of default under the indenture or any other material agreement or instrument and no event of default under the indenture can exist at the time the defeasance occurs.

Subordination

The subordinated debt securities will be subordinated in right of payment to all “senior debt,” as defined in the subordinated indenture. In certain circumstances relating to our liquidation, dissolution, receivership, reorganization, insolvency or similar proceedings, the holders of all senior debt will first be entitled to receive payment in full before the holders of the subordinated debt securities will be entitled to receive any payment on the subordinated debt securities.

In addition, we may make no payment on the subordinated debt securities in the event:

 

•

there is an event of default with respect to any senior indebtedness which permits the holders of that senior indebtedness to accelerate the maturity of the senior indebtedness; and

 

•

the default is the subject of judicial proceedings or we receive notice of the default from an authorized person under the subordinated indenture.

 

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By reason of this subordination in favor of the holders of senior indebtedness, in the event of an insolvency our creditors who are not holders of senior indebtedness or the subordinated debt securities may recover less, proportionately, than holders of senior indebtedness and may recover more, proportionately, than holders of the subordinated debt securities. Unless otherwise specified in the prospectus supplement relating to the particular series of subordinated debt securities, “senior debt” is defined in the subordinated indenture as the principal, premium, if any, unpaid interest (including interest accruing on or after the filing of any petition in bankruptcy or for reorganization relating to First PacTrust Bancorp whether or not a claim for post-filing interest is allowed in such proceeding), fees, charges, expenses, reimbursement and indemnification obligations, and all other amounts payable under or in respect of the following indebtedness of First PacTrust Bancorp for money borrowed, whether any such indebtedness exists as of the date of the indenture or is created, incurred, assumed or guaranteed after such date:

 

(i)

any debt (a) for money borrowed by First PacTrust Bancorp, or (b) evidenced by a bond, note, debenture, or similar instrument (including purchase money obligations) given in connection with the acquisition of any business, property or assets, whether by purchase, merger, consolidation or otherwise, but shall not include any account payable or other obligation created or assumed in the ordinary course of business in connection with the obtaining of materials or services, or (c) which is a direct or indirect obligation which arises as a result of banker’s acceptances or bank letters of credit issued to secure obligations of First PacTrust Bancorp, or to secure the payment of revenue bonds issued for the benefit of First PacTrust Bancorp whether contingent or otherwise;

 

(ii)

any debt of others described in the preceding clause (i) which First PacTrust Bancorp has guaranteed or for which it is otherwise liable;

 

(iii)

the obligation of First PacTrust Bancorp as lessee under any lease of property which is reflected on First PacTrust Bancorp’s balance sheet as a capitalized lease; and

 

(iv)

any deferral, amendment, renewal, extension, supplement or refunding of any liability of the kind described in any of the preceding clauses (i), (ii) and (iii).

“Senior debt” does not include (1) any such indebtedness, obligation or liability referred to in clauses (i) through (iv) above as to which, in the instrument creating or evidencing the same or pursuant to which the same is outstanding, it is provided that such indebtedness, obligation or liability is not superior in right of payment to the subordinated debt securities, or ranks pari passu with the subordinated debt securities, (2) any such indebtedness, obligation or liability which is subordinated to indebtedness of First PacTrust Bancorp to substantially the same extent as or to a greater extent than the subordinated debt securities are subordinated, (3) any indebtedness to a subsidiary of First PacTrust Bancorp and (4) the subordinated debt securities.

The subordinated indenture does not limit or prohibit the incurrence of additional senior indebtedness, which may include indebtedness that is senior to the subordinated debt securities, but subordinate to our other obligations. Any prospectus supplement relating to a particular series of subordinated debt securities will set forth the aggregate amount of our indebtedness senior to the subordinated debt securities as of a recent practicable date.

The prospectus supplement may further describe the provisions, if any, which may apply to the subordination of the subordinated debt securities of a particular series.

 

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Restrictive Covenants

The subordinated indenture does not contain any significant restrictive covenants. The prospectus supplement relating to a series of subordinated debt securities may describe certain restrictive covenants, if any, to which we may be bound under the subordinated indenture.

Governing Law

Unless indicated otherwise in the applicable prospectus supplement, the indentures and the debt securities will be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the State of New York.

DESCRIPTION OF COMMON STOCK AND PREFERRED STOCK

Our authorized capital stock consists of:

 

•

20,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $.01 per share; and

 

•

5,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $.01 per share.

Our charter authorizes our board of directors to classify or reclassify any unissued shares of capital stock from time to time into one or more classes or series of stock by setting or changing in one or more respects the preferences, conversion or other rights, voting powers, restrictions, limitations as to dividends, qualifications or terms and conditions of redemption of such shares. Our charter provides by its terms that it may be amended by action of our board of directors without a stockholder vote to change the number of shares of authorized capital stock. As of November 12, 2010, there were 9,698,430 shares of common stock issued and outstanding, 8,662,274 of which were shares of common stock with full voting rights (the “Voting Common Stock”) and 1,036,156 of which were shares of Class B Non-Voting Common Stock, which have no voting rights except as required by law (the “Non-Voting Common Stock,” and together with the Voting Common Stock, the “common stock”). As of that date there were 19,300 shares of preferred stock issued and outstanding, all of which consisted of our Series A Preferred Stock.

In this section we describe certain features and rights of our capital stock. The summary does not purport to be exhaustive and is qualified in its entirety by reference to our charter and bylaws and to applicable Maryland law.

Common Stock

We may issue, either separately or together with other securities, shares of common stock. Upon our receipt of the full specified purchase price, the common stock issued will be fully paid and nonassessable. A prospectus supplement relating to an offering of common stock, or other securities convertible or exchangeable for, or exercisable into, common stock, will describe the relevant offering terms, including the number of shares offered, the initial offering price, and market price and dividend information, as well as, if applicable, information on other related securities.

General. Except as described below under “—Anti-takeover Effects –Voting Limitation,” each holder of Voting Common Stock is entitled to one vote for each share on all matters to be voted upon by the common stockholders. There are no cumulative voting rights. Holders of Non-Voting Common Stock are not entitled to vote except as required by law. The terms of the Non-Voting Common Stock are otherwise identical to the terms of the Voting Common Stock. Of the 20,000,000 shares of common stock currently authorized under our charter, our board of directors has classified 2,836,156 as Non-Voting Common Stock.

 

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Subject to preferences to which holders of the Series A Preferred Stock and any shares of preferred stock then outstanding may be entitled, holders of common stock will be entitled to receive ratably any dividends that may be declared from time to time by our board of directors out of funds legally available for that purpose. In the event of our liquidation, dissolution or winding up, holders of common stock will be entitled to share in our assets remaining after the payment or provision for payment of our debts and other liabilities, and the satisfaction of the liquidation preferences of the holders of the Series A Preferred Stock and any other series of our preferred stock then outstanding. Holders of common stock have no preemptive or conversion rights or other subscription rights under our charter or Maryland law except as we may agree to provide to them. There are no redemption or sinking fund provisions that apply to the common stock. All shares of common stock currently outstanding are fully paid and nonassessable. The rights, preferences and privileges of the holders of common stock are subject to, and may be adversely affected by, the rights of the holders of shares of the Series A Preferred Stock and the shares of any series of preferred stock that we may designate in the future.

Restrictions on Dividends and Repurchases Under Agreement with U.S. Treasury. The securities purchase agreement we entered into with the U.S. Treasury in connection with our issuance of the Series A Preferred Stock provides that prior to the earlier of (i) November 21, 2011 and (ii) the date on which all of the shares of the Series A Preferred Stock have been redeemed by us or transferred by Treasury to third parties, we may not, without the consent of the U.S. Treasury, (a) increase the cash dividend on our common stock above $.185 or (b) subject to limited exceptions, redeem, repurchase or otherwise acquire shares of our common stock or preferred stock other than the Series A Preferred Stock. We plan to repurchase all of the Series A Preferred Stock in the fourth quarter of 2010, subject to approval by the U.S. Treasury and the OTS.

Preferred Stock

The following summary contains a description of the general terms of the preferred stock that we may issue. The specific terms of any series of preferred stock will be described in the prospectus supplement relating to that series of preferred stock. The terms of any series of preferred stock may differ from the terms described below. Certain provisions of the preferred stock described below and in any prospectus supplement are not complete. You should refer to the articles supplementary to our charter with respect to the establishment of a series of preferred stock which will be filed with the SEC in connection with the offering of such series of preferred stock.

General.  Our charter permits our board of directors to authorize the issuance of up to 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock in one or more series, without stockholder action. The board of directors can fix the designation, powers, preferences and rights of each series. Therefore, without approval of the holders of our common stock or the Series A Preferred Stock (except as may be required under the terms of the Series A Preferred Stock (see “—Series A Preferred Stock-Voting Rights”) or as may be required by the rules of the NASDAQ Stock Market or any other exchange or market on which our securities may then be listed or quoted), our board of directors may authorize the issuance of preferred stock with voting, dividend, liquidation and conversion and other rights that could dilute the voting power or other rights or adversely affect the market value of our common stock and may assist management in impeding any unfriendly takeover or attempted change in control. See “—Anti-Takeover Effects – Authorized Shares.”

The preferred stock has the terms described below unless otherwise provided in the prospectus supplement relating to a particular series of the preferred stock or, in the case of the Series

 

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A Preferred Stock, as described under “—Series A Preferred Stock.” You should read the prospectus supplement relating to the particular series of the preferred stock being offered for specific terms, including:

 

•

the designation of the series of preferred stock and the number of shares offered;

 

•

the amount of liquidation preference per share, if any;

 

•

the price at which the preferred stock will be issued;

 

•

the dividend rate, or method of calculation, the dates on which dividends will be payable, whether dividends will be cumulative or noncumulative and, if cumulative, the dates from which dividends will commence to cumulate;

 

•

any listing of the preferred stock being offered on any securities exchange or other securities market;

 

•

any voting rights;

 

•

any redemption or sinking fund provisions;

 

•

any conversion provisions;

 

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whether interests in the preferred stock being offered will be represented by depositary shares; and

 

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any other specific terms of the preferred stock being offered.

Upon our receipt of the full specified purchase price, the preferred stock will, when issued, be fully paid and nonassessable. Unless otherwise specified in the prospectus supplement, each series of preferred stock will rank equally as to dividends and liquidation rights in all respects with each other series of preferred stock. The rights of holders of shares of each series of preferred stock will be subordinate to those of our general creditors.

Rank.  Any series of the preferred stock will, with respect to the priority of the payment of dividends and the priority of payments upon liquidation, winding up and dissolution, rank:

 

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senior to all classes of common stock and all equity securities issued by us the terms of which specifically provide that the equity securities will rank junior to the preferred stock (referred to as the “junior securities”);

 

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equally with all equity securities issued by us the terms of which specifically provide that the equity securities will rank equally with the preferred stock (referred to as the “parity securities”); and

 

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junior to all equity securities issued by us the terms of which specifically provide that the equity securities will rank senior to the preferred stock.

The terms of the Series A Preferred Stock provide that we must obtain the approval of the holders of at least 66 2/3% of the outstanding shares of the Series A Preferred Stock in order to amend our charter or the articles supplementary to our charter for the Series A Preferred Stock to authorize or create or increase the authorized amount of, or any issuance of, any shares of, or any securities

 

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convertible into or exchangeable or exercisable for shares of, any class or series of stock ranking senior to the Series A Preferred Stock with respect to the payment of dividends and/or payments upon our liquidation, dissolution or winding up. Dividends are payable quarterly on the Series A Preferred Stock at a rate of 5% per annum from the date of issuance through but excluding February 15, 2014 and at a rate of 9% per annum on and after February 15, 2014. The Series A Preferred Stock has a liquidation preference of $1,000 per share, plus any accrued but unpaid dividends on the Series A Preferred Stock. See “—Series A Preferred Stock.”

Dividends. Holders of the preferred stock of each series will be entitled to receive, when, as and if declared by our board of directors, cash dividends at such rates and on such dates described, if any, in the applicable prospectus supplement. Different series of preferred stock may be entitled to dividends at different rates or based on different methods of calculation. The dividend rate may be fixed or variable or both. Dividends will be payable to the holders of record as they appear on our stock books on record dates fixed by our board of directors, as specified in the applicable prospectus supplement.

Dividends on any series of the preferred stock may be cumulative or noncumulative, as described in the applicable prospectus supplement. If our board of directors does not declare a dividend payable on a dividend payment date on any series of noncumulative preferred stock, then the holders of that noncumulative preferred stock will have no right to receive a dividend for that dividend payment date, and we will have no obligation to pay the dividend accrued for that period, whether or not dividends on that series are declared payable on any future dividend payment dates. Dividends on any series of cumulative preferred stock will accrue from the date we initially issue shares of such series or such other date specified in the applicable prospectus supplement.

No full dividends may be declared or paid or funds set apart for the payment of any dividends on any parity securities unless dividends have been paid or set apart for payment on the preferred stock. If full dividends are not paid, the preferred stock will share dividends pro rata with the parity securities. No dividends may be declared or paid or funds set apart for the payment of dividends on any junior securities unless full cumulative dividends for all dividend periods terminating on or prior to the date of the declaration or payment will have been paid or declared and a sum sufficient for the payment set apart for payment on the preferred stock.

Rights Upon Liquidation. If we dissolve, liquidate or wind up our affairs, either voluntarily or involuntarily, the holders of each series of preferred stock will be entitled to receive, before any payment or distribution of assets is made to holders of junior securities, liquidating distributions in the amount described in the applicable prospectus supplement relating to that series of the preferred stock, plus an amount equal to accrued and unpaid dividends and, if the series of the preferred stock is cumulative, for all dividend periods prior to that point in time. If the amounts payable with respect to the preferred stock of any series and any other parity securities are not paid in full, the holders of the preferred stock of that series and of the parity securities will share proportionately in the distribution of our assets in proportion to the full liquidation preferences to which they are entitled. After the holders of preferred stock and the parity securities are paid in full, they will have no right or claim to any of our remaining assets.

Because we are a holding company, our rights and the rights of our creditors and of our stockholders, including the holders of any shares of preferred stock then outstanding, to participate in the assets of any subsidiary upon the subsidiary’s liquidation or recapitalization will be subject to the prior claims of the subsidiary’s creditors except to the extent that we may ourselves be a creditor with recognized claims against the subsidiary.

Redemption. We may provide that a series of the preferred stock may be redeemable, in whole or in part, at our option or at the option of the holder of the stock. In addition, a series of preferred stock

 

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may be subject to mandatory redemption pursuant to a sinking fund or otherwise. The redemption provisions that may apply to a series of preferred stock, including the redemption dates and the redemption prices for that series, will be described in the prospectus supplement.

In the event of partial redemptions of preferred stock, whether by mandatory or optional redemption, our board of directors will determine the method for selecting the shares to be redeemed, which may be by lot or pro rata or by any other method determined by our board of directors to be equitable.

On or after a redemption date, unless we default in the payment of the redemption price, dividends will cease to accrue on shares of preferred stock called for redemption. In addition, all rights of holders of the shares will terminate except for the right to receive the redemption price.

Unless otherwise specified in the applicable prospectus supplement for any series of preferred stock, if any dividends on any other series of preferred stock ranking equally as to payment of dividends and liquidation rights with such series of preferred stock are in arrears, no shares of any such series of preferred stock may be redeemed, whether by mandatory or optional redemption, unless all shares of preferred stock are redeemed, and we will not purchase any shares of such series of preferred stock. This requirement, however, will not prevent us from acquiring such shares pursuant to a purchase or exchange offer made on the same terms to holders of all such shares outstanding.

Voting Rights.  Unless otherwise described in the applicable prospectus supplement, holders of the preferred stock will have no voting rights except as otherwise required by law or in our charter.

Under regulations adopted by the OTS, if the holders of any series of the preferred stock are or become entitled to vote for the election of directors, such series may then be deemed a “class of voting securities” and a holder of 10% or more of such series that is a company may then be subject to regulation as a savings and loan holding company. In addition, at such time as such series is deemed a class of voting securities, (a) any holder that is a bank holding company or savings and loan holding company may be required to file a notice with or obtain the approval of the Federal Reserve Board or the OTS to acquire or retain 5% or more of that series and (b) any person may be required to obtain the approval of the OTS to acquire or retain 10% or more of that series

Exchangeability.  We may provide that the holders of shares of preferred stock of any series may be required at any time or at maturity to exchange those shares for our debt securities. The applicable prospectus supplement will specify the terms of any such exchange.

Series A Preferred Stock

The description of the Series A Preferred Stock contained in this section is qualified in its entirety by the actual terms of the Series A Preferred Stock, as are stated in the articles supplementary to our charter for the Series A Preferred Stock, a copy of which is included in Exhibit 3.2 to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part. See “Where You Can Find More Information.”

General. The Series A Preferred Stock constitutes a single series of our preferred stock, consisting of 19,300 shares, par value $0.01 per share, having a liquidation preference amount of $1,000 per share. The Series A Preferred Stock has no maturity date. We issued the shares of Series A Preferred Stock to the U.S. Treasury on November 21, 2008 in connection with the TARP Capital Purchase Program for a purchase price of $19.3 million.

Dividend Rate. Dividends on the Series A Preferred Stock are payable quarterly in arrears, when, as and if authorized and declared by our board of directors out of legally available funds, on a cumulative basis on the $1,000 per share liquidation preference amount plus the amount of accrued

 

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and unpaid dividends for any prior dividend periods, at a rate of (i) 5% per annum, from the original issuance date to but excluding the first day of the first dividend period commencing after the fifth anniversary of the original issuance date (i.e., 5% per annum from November 21, 2008 to but excluding February 15, 2014), and (ii) 9% per annum, from and after the first day of the first dividend period commencing after the fifth anniversary of the original issuance date (i.e., 9% per annum on and after February 15, 2014). Dividends are payable quarterly in arrears on February 15, May 15, August 15 and November 15 of each year, commencing on February 15, 2009.

Dividends on the Series A Preferred Stock will be cumulative. If for any reason our board of directors does not declare a dividend on the Series A Preferred Stock for a particular dividend period, or if the board of directors declares less than a full dividend, we will remain obligated to pay the unpaid portion of the dividend for that period and the unpaid dividend will compound on each subsequent dividend date (meaning that dividends for future dividend periods will accrue on any unpaid dividend amounts for prior dividend periods).

We are not obligated to pay holders of the Series A Preferred Stock any dividend in excess of the dividends on the Series A Preferred Stock that are payable as described above. There is no sinking fund with respect to dividends on the Series A Preferred Stock.

Priority of Dividends. So long as the Series A Preferred Stock remains outstanding, we may not declare or pay a dividend or other distribution on our common stock or any other shares of Junior Stock (other than dividends payable solely in common stock) or Parity Stock (other than dividends paid on a pro rata basis with the Series A Preferred Stock), and we generally may not directly or indirectly purchase, redeem or otherwise acquire any shares of common stock, Junior Stock or Parity Stock unless all accrued and unpaid dividends on the Series A Preferred Stock for all past dividend periods are paid in full.

“Junior Stock” means our common stock and any other class or series of our stock the terms of which expressly provide that it ranks junior to the Series A Preferred Stock as to dividend rights and/or as to rights on liquidation, dissolution or winding up of First PacTrust Bancorp. We currently have no outstanding class or series of stock constituting Junior Stock other than our common stock.

“Parity Stock” means any class or series of our stock, other than the Series A Preferred Stock, the terms of which do not expressly provide that such class or series will rank senior or junior to the Series A Preferred Stock as to dividend rights and/or as to rights on liquidation, dissolution or winding up of First PacTrust Bancorp, in each case without regard to whether dividends accrue cumulatively or non-cumulatively. We currently have no outstanding class or series of stock constituting Parity Stock.

Liquidation Rights. In the event of any voluntary or involuntary liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the affairs of First PacTrust Bancorp, holders of the Series A Preferred Stock will be entitled to receive for each share of Series A Preferred Stock, out of the assets of First PacTrust Bancorp or proceeds available for distribution to our stockholders, subject to any rights of our creditors, before any distribution of assets or proceeds is made to or set aside for the holders of our common stock and any other class or series of our stock ranking junior to the Series A Preferred Stock, payment of an amount equal to the sum of (i) the $1,000 liquidation preference amount per share and (ii) the amount of any accrued and unpaid dividends on the Series A Preferred Stock (including dividends accrued on any unpaid dividends). To the extent the assets or proceeds available for distribution to stockholders are not sufficient to fully pay the liquidation payments owing to the holders of the Series A Preferred Stock and the holders of any other class or series of our stock ranking equally with the Series A Preferred Stock, the holders of the Series A Preferred Stock and such other stock will share ratably in the distribution.

 

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For purposes of the liquidation rights of the Series A Preferred Stock, neither a merger or consolidation of First PacTrust Bancorp with another entity nor a sale, lease or exchange of all or substantially all of First PacTrust Bancorp’s assets will constitute a liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the affairs of First PacTrust Bancorp.

Redemption and Repurchases. Subject to the prior approval of the OTS, the Series A Preferred Stock is redeemable at our option in whole or in part at a redemption price equal to 100% of the liquidation preference amount of $1,000 per share plus any accrued and unpaid dividends to but excluding the date of redemption (including dividends accrued on any unpaid dividends), provided that any declared but unpaid dividend payable on a redemption date that occurs subsequent to the record date for the dividend will be payable to the holder of record of the redeemed shares on the dividend record date, and provided further that the Series A Preferred Stock may be redeemed prior to the first dividend payment date falling after the third anniversary of the original issuance date (i.e., prior to February 15, 2012) only if (i) we have, or our successor following a business combination with another entity which also participated in the TARP Capital Purchase Program has, raised aggregate gross proceeds in one or more Qualified Equity Offerings of at least the Minimum Amount and (ii) the aggregate redemption price of the Series A Preferred Stock does not exceed the aggregate net proceeds from such Qualified Equity Offerings by us and any successor. The “Minimum Amount” means $4,825,000 plus, in the event we are succeeded in a business combination by another entity which also participated in the TARP Capital Purchase Program, 25% of the aggregate liquidation preference amount of the preferred stock issued by that entity to the U.S. Treasury. A “Qualified Equity Offering” is defined as the sale for cash by First PacTrust Bancorp. (or its successor) of preferred stock or common stock that qualifies as Tier 1 capital under applicable regulatory capital guidelines.

Subsequent to our issuance of the Series A Preferred Stock, on February 17, 2009, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the “ARRA”) was enacted into law. Among other things, the ARRA provides that subject to consulting with the appropriate federal banking agency (the OTS in our case), the U.S. Treasury must permit repayment of funds provided under the TARP Capital Purchase Program without regard to whether the institution which received the funds has replaced the funds from any other source

Shares of Series A Preferred Stock that we redeem, repurchase or otherwise acquire will revert to authorized but unissued shares of preferred stock, which may then be reissued by us as any series of preferred stock other than the Series A Preferred Stock. We plan to repurchase all of the shares of the Series A Preferred Stock in the fourth quarter of 2010, subject to the approvals of the U.S. Treasury and the OTS.

No Conversion Rights. Holders of the Series A Preferred Stock have no right to exchange or convert their shares into common stock or any other securities.

Voting Rights. The holders of the Series A Preferred Stock do not have voting rights other than those described below, except to the extent specifically required by Maryland law.

Whenever dividends have not been paid on the Series A Preferred Stock for six or more quarterly dividend periods, whether or not consecutive, the authorized number of directors of First PacTrust Bancorp will automatically increase by two and the holders of the Series A Preferred Stock will have the right, with the holders of shares of any other classes or series of Voting Parity Stock outstanding at the time, voting together as a class, to elect two directors (the “Preferred Directors”) to fill such newly created directorships at our next annual meeting of stockholders (or at a special meeting called for that purpose prior to the next annual meeting) and at each subsequent annual meeting of stockholders until all accrued and unpaid dividends for all past dividend periods on all outstanding shares of Series A Preferred Stock have been paid in full at which time this right will terminate with

 

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respect to the Series A Preferred Stock, subject to revesting in the event of each and every subsequent default by us in the payment of dividends on the Series A Preferred Stock.

Upon any termination of the right of the holders of the Series A Preferred Stock and Voting Parity Stock as a class to vote for directors as described above, the Preferred Directors will cease to be qualified as directors, the terms of office of all Preferred Directors then in office will terminate immediately and the authorized number of directors will be reduced by the number of Preferred Directors which had been elected by the holders of the Series A Preferred Stock and the Voting Parity Stock. Any Preferred Director may be removed at any time, with or without cause, and any vacancy created by such a removal may be filled, only by the affirmative vote of the holders a majority of the outstanding shares of Series A Preferred Stock voting separately as a class together with the holders of shares of Voting Parity Stock, to the extent the voting rights of such holders described above are then exercisable. If the office of any Preferred Director becomes vacant for any reason other than removal from office, the remaining Preferred Director may choose a successor who will hold office for the unexpired term of the office in which the vacancy occurred.

The term “Voting Parity Stock” means with regard to any matter as to which the holders of the Series A Preferred Stock are entitled to vote, any series of Parity Stock (as defined under “—Dividends-Priority of Dividends”) upon which voting rights similar to those of the Series A Preferred Stock have been conferred and are exercisable with respect to such matter. We currently have no outstanding shares of Voting Parity Stock.

In addition to any other vote or consent required by Maryland law or by our charter, the vote or consent of the holders of at least 66 2/3% of the outstanding shares of Series A Preferred Stock, voting as a separate class, is required in order to do the following:

 

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amend our charter or the articles supplementary for the Series A Preferred Stock to authorize or create or increase the authorized amount of, or any issuance of, any shares of, or any securities convertible into or exchangeable or exercisable for shares of, any class or series of stock ranking senior to the Series A Preferred Stock with respect to the payment of dividends and/or the distribution of assets on any liquidation, dissolution or winding up of First PacTrust Bancorp; or

 

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amend our charter or the articles supplementary for the Series A Preferred Stock in a way that materially and adversely affect the rights, preferences, privileges or voting powers of the Series A Preferred Stock; or

 

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consummate a binding share exchange or reclassification involving the Series A Preferred Stock or a merger or consolidation of First PacTrust Bancorp with another entity, unless (i) the shares of Series A Preferred Stock remain outstanding or, in the case of a merger or consolidation in which First PacTrust Bancorp is not the surviving or resulting entity, are converted into or exchanged for preference securities of the surviving or resulting entity or its ultimate parent, and (ii) the shares of Series A Preferred Stock remaining outstanding or such preference securities, have such rights, preferences, privileges, voting powers, limitations and restrictions, taken as a whole, as are not materially less favorable than the rights, preferences, privileges, voting powers, limitations and restrictions of the Series A Preferred Stock prior to consummation of the transaction, taken as a whole;

provided, however, that (1) any increase in the amount of our authorized but unissued shares of preferred stock, and (2) the creation and issuance, or an increase in the authorized or issued amount, of any other series of preferred stock, or any securities convertible into or exchangeable or exercisable for any other series of preferred stock, ranking equally with and/or junior to the Series A Preferred

 

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Stock with respect to the payment of dividends, whether such dividends are cumulative or non-cumulative and the distribution of assets upon our liquidation, dissolution or winding up, will not be deemed to materially and adversely affect the rights, preferences, privileges or voting powers of the Series A Preferred Stock and will not require the vote or consent of the holders of the Series A Preferred Stock.

To the extent holders of the Series A Preferred Stock are entitled to vote, holders of shares of the Series A Preferred Stock will be entitled to one vote for each share then held.

Anti-takeover Effects

The provisions of our charter and bylaws summarized in the following paragraphs may have anti-takeover effects and could delay, defer, or prevent a tender offer or takeover attempt that a stockholder might consider to be in such stockholder’s best interest, including those attempts that might result in a premium over the market price for the shares held by stockholders, and may make removal of the incumbent management and directors more difficult.

Authorized Shares. Our charter currently authorizes the issuance of 20,000,000 shares of common stock and 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock. Our charter authorizes our board of directors to classify or reclassify any unissued shares of capital stock from time to time into one or more classes or series of stock by setting or changing in one or more respects the preferences, conversion or other rights, voting powers, restrictions, limitations as to dividends, qualifications or terms and conditions of redemption of such shares. We are authorized under our charter to issue additional shares of capital stock, up to the amount authorized, generally without stockholder approval. In addition, our charter provides by its terms that it may be amended by our board of directors, without a stockholder vote, to change the number of shares of capital stock authorized. The unissued shares of stock the board is authorized to issue, and the power of the board to increase the number of authorized shares without a stockholder vote, provide our board of directors with as much flexibility as possible to effect, among other transactions, financings, acquisitions and other transactions. However, these additional authorized shares may also be used by the board of directors consistent with its fiduciary duties, to deter future attempts to gain control of us. The board of directors also has sole authority to determine the terms of any one or more series of preferred or other stock, including voting rights, conversion rates, and liquidation preferences. As a result of the ability to fix voting rights for a series of preferred stock, the board has the power, to the extent consistent with its fiduciary duties, to issue a series of preferred stock to persons friendly to the incumbent management and directors in order to attempt to block a tender offer, merger or other unsolicited transaction by which a third party seeks control of us.

Voting Limitation. Our charter generally prohibits any stockholder that beneficially owns more than 10% of the outstanding shares of our common stock from voting shares in excess of this limit. This provision would limit the voting power of a beneficial owner of more than 10% of our outstanding shares of common stock in a proxy contest or on other matters on which such person is entitled to vote.

The Maryland General Corporation Law contains a control share acquisition statute which, in general terms, provides that where a stockholder acquires issued and outstanding shares of a corporation’s voting stock (referred to as control shares) within one of several specified ranges (one-tenth or more but less than one-third, one-third or more but less than a majority, or a majority or more), approval by stockholders of the control share acquisition must be obtained before the acquiring stockholder may vote the control shares. The required stockholder vote is two-thirds of all votes entitled to be cast, excluding “interested shares,” defined as shares held by the acquiring person, officers of the corporation and employees who are also directors of the corporation. A corporation may, however, opt-out of the control share statute through a charter or bylaw provision, which we have done

 

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pursuant to our charter. Accordingly, the Maryland control share acquisition statute does not apply to acquisitions of shares of our common stock. Though not anticipated, we could seek stockholder approval of an amendment to our charter to eliminate the opt-out provision; such an amendment would require a supermajority vote. See “—Amendment of Charter and Bylaws.”

Board of Directors. Except with respect to any directors who may be elected by any class or series of preferred stock, our board of directors is divided into three classes, each of which contains one-third of the members of the board. The members of each class are elected for a term of three years, with the terms of office of all members of one class expiring each year so that approximately one-third of the total number of directors is elected each year. The classification of directors, together with the provisions in our charter described below that limit the ability of stockholders to remove directors and that permit only the remaining directors to fill any vacancies on the board of directors, have the effect of making it more difficult for stockholders to change the composition of the board of directors. As a result, at least two annual meetings of stockholders will be required for the stockholders to change a majority of the directors, whether or not a change in the board of directors would be beneficial and whether or not a majority of stockholders believe that such a change would be desirable. Our charter provides that stockholders may not cumulate their votes in the election of directors.

Pursuant to our bylaws, the number of our directors is currently seven. Our charter and bylaws provide that, subject to the rights of the holders of any series of preferred stock then outstanding, vacancies in the board of directors may be filled by a majority vote of the directors then in office, though less than a quorum, and any director so chosen shall hold office for the remainder of the full term of the class of directors in which the vacancy occurred. Our charter further provides that, subject to the rights of the holders of any series of preferred stock then outstanding, directors may be removed from office only for cause and only by the vote of the holders of at least 80% of the voting power of the outstanding shares of capital stock entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, voting together as a single class.

The foregoing description of our board of directors does not apply with respect to directors that may be elected by the holders of the Series A Preferred Stock in the event we do not pay dividends on the Series A Preferred Stock for six or more dividend periods. See “—Series A Preferred Stock-Voting Rights.”

Special Meetings of Stockholders. Our bylaws provide that subject to the rights of the holders of any class or series of preferred stock, special meetings of stockholders may be called by our President or by our board of directors by vote of a majority of the whole board (meaning the total number of directors we would have if there were no vacancies). Our bylaws also provide that a special meeting of stockholders shall be called on the written request of stockholders entitled to cast at least a majority of all votes entitled to be cast at the meeting.

Action by Stockholders Without A Meeting. Our bylaws provide that no action may be taken by stockholders without a meeting without the written consent of every stockholder entitled to vote on the matter.

Business Combinations With Certain Persons. Our charter provides that certain business combinations (for example, mergers, share exchanges, significant asset sales and significant stock issuances) involving “interested stockholders” of First PacTrust Bancorp require, in addition to any vote required by law, the approval of the holders of at least 80% of the voting power of the outstanding shares of stock entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, voting together as a single class, unless either (i) a majority of the disinterested directors have approved the business combination or (ii) certain fair price and procedure requirements are satisfied. An “interested stockholder” generally

 

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means a person who is a greater than 10% stockholder of First PacTrust Bancorp or who is an affiliate of First PacTrust Bancorp and at any time within the past two years was a greater than 10% stockholder of First PacTrust Bancorp.

The Maryland General Corporation Law contains a business combination statute that prohibits a business combination between a corporation and an interested stockholder (one who beneficially owns 10% or more of the voting power) for a period of five years after the interested stockholder first becomes an interested stockholder, unless the transaction has been approved by the board of directors before the interested stockholder became an interested stockholder or the corporation has exempted itself from the statute pursuant to a charter provision. After the five-year period has elapsed, a corporation subject to the statute may not consummate a business combination with an interested stockholder unless (i) the transaction has been recommended by the board of directors and (ii) the transaction has been approved by (a) 80% of the outstanding shares entitled to be cast and (b) two-thirds of the votes entitled to be cast other than shares owned by the interested stockholder. This approval requirement need not be met if certain fair price and terms criteria have been satisfied. We have opted-out of the Maryland business combination statute through a provision in our charter.

Amendment of Charter and Bylaws. Our charter generally may be amended upon approval by the board of directors and the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of our Voting Common Stock. The amendment of certain provisions of our charter, however, requires the vote of the holders of at least 80% of the outstanding shares of capital stock entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, voting together as a single class. These include provisions relating to: voting limitations on greater than 10% stockholders; the opt-out of the Maryland control share acquisition statute (see “—Voting Limitation” above); the number, classification, election and removal of directors; certain business combinations with greater than 10% stockholders; indemnification of directors and officers; and amendments to the charter and bylaws.

Our bylaws may be amended either by the board of directors, by a vote of a majority of the whole board, or by our stockholders, by the vote of the holders of at least 80% of the voting power of the outstanding shares of capital stock entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, voting together as a single class.

Advance Notice Provisions. Our bylaws provide that we must receive written notice of any stockholder proposal for business at an annual meeting of stockholders, or any stockholder director nomination for an annual meeting of stockholders, not less than 90 days or more than 120 days before the anniversary of the preceding year’s annual meeting. If, however, the date of the current year annual meeting is advanced by more than 30 days or delayed by more than 60 days from the anniversary date of the preceding year’s annual meeting, notice of the proposal or nomination must be received by us no earlier than the 120^th day prior to the annual meeting or later than the close of business on the later of the 90^th day prior to the annual meeting or the 10^th day following the day on which notice of the meeting is mailed or public announcement of the meeting date is first made

DESCRIPTION OF DEPOSITARY SHARES

We may offer depositary shares, which will be evidenced by depositary receipts, representing fractional interests in shares of preferred stock of any series. In connection with the issuance of any depositary shares, we will enter into a deposit agreement with a bank or trust company, as depositary, which will be named in the applicable prospectus supplement. The following briefly summarizes the material provisions of the deposit agreement and of the depositary shares and depositary receipts, other than pricing and related terms disclosed for a particular issuance in an accompanying prospectus supplement. This description is not complete and is subject to, and qualified in its entirety by reference to, all provisions of the deposit agreement, depositary shares and depositary receipts. You should read

 

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the particular terms of any depositary shares and any depositary receipts that we offer and any deposit agreement relating to a particular series of preferred stock described in more detail in a prospectus supplement. The prospectus supplement will also state whether any of the generalized provisions summarized below do not apply to the depositary shares or depositary receipts being offered.

General

We may, at our option, elect to offer fractional shares of preferred stock, rather than full shares of preferred stock. In such event, we will issue receipts for depositary shares, each of which will represent a fraction of a share of a particular series of preferred stock.

The shares of any series of preferred stock represented by depositary shares will be deposited under a deposit agreement between us and a bank or trust company we select and that has its principal office in the United States and a combined capital and surplus of at least $50,000,000, as preferred stock depositary. Each owner of a depositary share will be entitled to all the rights and preferences of the underlying preferred stock, including any dividend, voting, redemption, conversion and liquidation rights described in the particular prospectus supplement, in proportion to the applicable fraction of a share of preferred stock represented by such depositary share.

The depositary shares will be evidenced by depositary receipts issued pursuant to the deposit agreement. Depositary receipts will be distributed to those persons purchasing the fractional shares of preferred stock in accordance with the terms of the applicable prospectus supplement.

Dividends and Other Distributions

The preferred stock depositary will distribute all cash dividends or other cash distributions received in respect of the deposited preferred stock to the record holders of depositary shares relating to the preferred stock in proportion to the number of depositary shares owned by the holders.

In the case of a distribution other than in cash, the preferred stock depositary will distribute any property received by it other than cash to the record holders of depositary shares entitled to receive it. If the preferred stock depositary determines that it is not feasible to make such a distribution, it may, with our approval, sell the property and distribute the net proceeds from the sale to the holders of the depositary shares.

The amounts distributed in any such distribution, whether in cash or otherwise, will be reduced by any amount required to be withheld by us or the preferred stock depositary on account of taxes.

Withdrawal of Preferred Stock

When a holder surrenders depositary receipts at the office of the preferred stock depositary maintained for that purpose, and pays any necessary taxes, charges or other fees, the holder will be entitled to receive the number of whole shares of the related series of preferred stock, and any money or other property, if any, represented by the holder’s depositary shares. Once a holder exchanges depositary shares for whole shares of preferred stock, that holder generally cannot “re-deposit” these shares of preferred stock with the preferred stock depositary, or exchange them for depositary shares. If a holder delivers depositary receipts that represent a number of depositary shares that exceeds the number of whole shares of related preferred stock the holder seeks to withdraw, the depositary will issue a new depositary receipt to the holder that evidences the excess number of depositary shares.

Redemption, Conversion and Exchange of Preferred Stock

If a series of preferred stock represented by depositary shares is to be redeemed, the depositary shares will be redeemed from the proceeds received by the preferred stock depositary

 

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resulting from the redemption, in whole or in part, of that series of preferred stock. The depositary shares will be redeemed by the preferred stock depositary at a price per depositary share equal to the applicable fraction of the redemption price per share payable in respect of the shares of preferred stock redeemed.

Whenever we redeem shares of preferred stock held by the preferred stock depositary, the preferred stock depositary will redeem as of the same date the number of depositary shares representing shares of preferred stock redeemed. If fewer than all the depositary shares are to be redeemed, the depositary shares to be redeemed will be selected by the preferred stock depositary by lot or ratably or by any other equitable method, in each case as we may determine.

If a series of preferred stock represented by depositary shares is to be converted or exchanged, the holder of depositary receipts representing the shares of preferred stock being converted or exchanged will have the right or obligation to convert or exchange the depositary shares evidenced by the depositary receipts.

After the redemption, conversion or exchange date, the depositary shares called for redemption, conversion or exchange will no longer be outstanding. When the depositary shares are no longer outstanding, all rights of the holders will end, except the right to receive money, securities or other property payable upon redemption, conversion or exchange.

Voting Deposited Preferred Stock

Upon receipt of notice of any meeting at which the holders of any series of deposited preferred stock are entitled to vote, the preferred stock depositary will mail the information contained in the notice of meeting to the record holders of the depositary receipts evidencing the depositary shares relating to that series of preferred stock. Each record holder of the depositary receipts on the record date will be entitled to instruct the preferred stock depositary to vote the amount of the preferred stock represented by the holder’s depositary shares. The preferred stock depositary will try, if practical, to vote the amount of such series of preferred stock represented by such depositary shares in accordance with such instructions.

We will agree to take all reasonable actions that the preferred stock depositary determines are necessary to enable the preferred stock depositary to vote as instructed. The preferred stock depositary will abstain from voting shares of any series of preferred stock held by it for which it does not receive specific instructions from the holders of depositary shares representing those preferred shares.

Amendment and Termination of the Deposit Agreement

The form of depositary receipt evidencing the depositary shares and any provision of the deposit agreement may at any time be amended by agreement between us and the preferred stock depositary. However, any amendment that materially and adversely alters any existing right of the holders of depositary receipts will not be effective unless the amendment has been approved by the holders of depositary receipts representing at least a majority of the depositary shares then outstanding. Every holder of an outstanding depositary receipt at the time any such amendment becomes effective will be deemed, by continuing to hold the depositary receipt, to consent and agree to the amendment and to be bound by the deposit agreement, as amended.

We may direct the preferred stock depositary to terminate the deposit agreement at any time by mailing notice of termination to the record holders of the depositary receipts then outstanding at least 30 days prior to the date fixed for termination. Upon termination, the preferred stock depositary

 

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will deliver to each holder of depositary receipts, upon surrender of those receipts, such number of whole shares of the series of preferred stock represented by the depositary shares together with cash in lieu of any fractional shares, to the extent we have deposited cash for payment in lieu of fractional shares with the preferred stock depositary. In addition, the deposit agreement will automatically terminate if:

 

•

all of the shares of the preferred stock deposited with the preferred stock depositary have been withdrawn, redeemed, converted or exchanged; or

 

•

there has been a final distribution in respect of the deposited preferred stock in connection with our liquidation, dissolution or winding up.

Charges of Preferred Stock Depositary; Taxes and Other Governmental Charges

We will pay all transfer and other taxes and governmental charges arising solely from the existence of the depositary arrangements. We also will pay charges of the preferred stock depositary in connection with the initial deposit of preferred stock and any redemption of preferred stock. Holders of depositary receipts will pay other transfer and other taxes and governmental charges and such other charges, including a fee for the withdrawal of shares of preferred stock upon surrender of depositary receipts, as are expressly provided in the deposit agreement to be for their accounts.

Prospective purchasers of depositary shares should be aware that special tax, accounting and other issues may be applicable to instruments such as depositary shares.

Resignation and Removal of Depositary

The preferred stock depositary may resign at any time by delivering to us notice of its intent to do so, and we may at any time remove the preferred stock depositary, any such resignation or removal to take effect upon the appointment of a successor preferred stock depositary and its acceptance of such appointment. The successor preferred stock depositary must be appointed within 90 days after delivery of the notice of resignation or removal and must be a bank or trust company, or an affiliate of a bank or trust company, having its principal office in the United States and having a combined capital and surplus of at least $50,000,000.

Miscellaneous

The preferred stock depositary will forward all reports and communications from us which are delivered to the preferred stock depositary and which we are required to furnish to the holders of the deposited preferred stock.

Neither we nor the preferred stock depositary will be liable if we are or the preferred stock depositary is prevented or delayed by law or any circumstances beyond our or its control in performing our or its obligations under the deposit agreement. Our obligations and the obligations of the preferred stock depositary under the deposit agreement will be limited to performance in good faith of the duties under the deposit agreement and we and the preferred stock depositary will not be obligated to prosecute or defend any legal proceeding in respect of any depositary shares, depositary receipts or shares of preferred stock unless satisfactory indemnity is furnished. We and the preferred stock depositary may rely upon written advice of counsel or accountants, or upon information provided by holders of depositary receipts or other persons believed to be competent and on documents believed to be genuine.

 

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DESCRIPTION OF PURCHASE CONTRACTS

We may issue purchase contracts, including purchase contracts issued as part of a unit with one or more other securities, for the purchase or sale of:

 

•

our debt securities, preferred stock, depositary shares or common stock;

 

•

securities of an entity not affiliated with us, a basket of those securities, an index or indices of those securities or any combination of the foregoing;

 

•

currencies; or

 

•

commodities.

The price of our debt securities, the price per share of our common stock, preferred stock or depositary shares, or the price of the other securities, currencies or commodities that are the subject of the contract, as applicable, may be fixed at the time the purchase contracts are issued or may be determined by reference to a specific formula contained in the purchase contracts. We may issue purchase contracts in such amounts and in as many distinct series as we wish.

The applicable prospectus supplement may contain, where applicable, the following information about the purchase contracts issued under it:

 

•

whether the purchase contracts obligate the holder to purchase or sell, or both purchase and sell, our debt securities, common stock, preferred stock or depositary shares, or other securities, currencies or commodities, as applicable, and the nature and amount of each of those securities, or method of determining those amounts;

 

•

whether the purchase contracts are to be prepaid or not;

 

•

whether the purchase contracts are to be settled by delivery, or by reference or linkage to the value, performance or level of our common stock or preferred stock;

 

•

any acceleration, cancellation, termination or other provisions relating to the settlement of the purchase contracts;

 

•

United States federal income tax considerations relevant to the purchase contracts; and

 

•

whether the purchase contracts will be issued in fully registered or global form.

The applicable prospectus supplement will describe the terms of any purchase contracts. The preceding description and any description of purchase contracts in the applicable prospectus supplement does not purport to be complete and is subject to and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the purchase contract agreement and, if applicable, collateral arrangements and depositary arrangements relating to such purchase contracts.

DESCRIPTION OF WARRANTS

We may issue warrants for the purchase of our debt securities, or shares of our common stock or preferred stock or depositary shares. Warrants may be issued independently or together with any of our debt securities, shares of common stock or preferred stock or depositary shares offered by any prospectus supplement and may be attached to or separate from the debt securities, shares of common stock or preferred stock or depositary shares. The warrants will be issued under warrant

 

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agreements to be entered into between First PacTrust Bancorp and a bank or trust company, as warrant agent, as is named in the prospectus supplement relating to the particular issue of warrants. The warrant agent will act solely as an agent of First PacTrust Bancorp in connection with the warrants and will not assume any obligation or relationship of agency or trust for or with any holders of warrants or beneficial owners of warrants.

The following outlines the some of the anticipated general terms and conditions of the warrants. Further terms of the warrants and the applicable warrant agreement will be stated in the applicable prospectus supplement. The following description and any description of the warrants in a prospectus supplement may not be complete and is subject to and qualified in its entirety by reference to the terms and provisions of the applicable warrant agreement.

General

If warrants are offered, the prospectus supplement will describe the terms of the warrants, including the following:

 

•

the offering price;

 

•

the designation, aggregate principal amount and terms of the debt securities purchasable upon exercise of any debt warrants and the price at which such debt securities may be purchased upon such exercise;

 

•

the number of shares purchasable upon exercise of any common stock warrants and the price at which such shares of common stock may be purchased upon such exercise;

 

•

the designation, number of shares and terms of the preferred stock purchasable upon exercise of any preferred stock warrants and the price at which such shares of preferred stock may be purchased upon such exercise;

 

•

if applicable, the date on and after which the warrants and the related debt securities, common stock or preferred stock will be separately transferable;

 

•

the date on which the right to exercise the warrants shall commence and the date on which such right shall expire;

 

•

whether the warrants will be issued in registered or bearer form;

 

•

a discussion of certain federal income tax, accounting and other special considerations, procedures and limitations relating to the warrants; and

 

•

any other terms of the warrants.

If in registered form, warrants may be presented for registration of transfer, and may be exercised at the corporate trust office of the warrant agent or any other office indicated in the prospectus supplement. Before the exercise of their warrants, holders of warrants will not have any of the rights of holders of the securities purchasable upon such exercise.

Exercise of Warrants

Each warrant will entitle the holder to purchase such principal amount of debt securities or such number of shares of common stock or preferred stock or depositary shares at such exercise price as shall in each case be set forth in, or can be calculated according to information contained in, the

 

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prospectus supplement relating to the warrant. Warrants may be exercised at such times as are set forth in the prospectus supplement relating to such warrants. After the close of business on the expiration date of the warrants, or such later date to which such expiration date may be extended by First PacTrust Bancorp, unexercised warrants will become void.

Subject to any restrictions and additional requirements that may be set forth in the prospectus supplement, warrants may be exercised by delivery to the warrant agent of the certificate evidencing such warrants properly completed and duly executed and of payment as provided in the prospectus supplement of the amount required to purchase the debt securities or shares of common stock or preferred stock or depositary shares purchasable upon such exercise. The exercise price will be the price applicable on the date of payment in full, as set forth in the prospectus supplement relating to the warrants. Upon receipt of such payment and the certificate representing the warrants to be exercised, properly completed and duly executed at the corporate trust office of the warrant agent or any other office indicated in the prospectus supplement, we will, as soon as practicable, issue and deliver the debt securities or shares of common stock or preferred stock or depositary shares purchasable upon such exercise. If fewer than all of the warrants represented by such certificate are exercised, a new certificate will be issued for the remaining amount of warrants.

Additional Provisions

The exercise price payable and the number of shares of common stock or preferred stock purchasable upon the exercise of each stock warrant will be subject to adjustment in certain events, including:

 

•

the issuance of the stock dividend to holders of common stock or preferred stock, respectively;

 

•

a combination, subdivision or reclassification of common stock or preferred stock, respectively; or

 

•

any other event described in the applicable prospectus supplement.

In lieu of adjusting the number of shares of common stock or preferred stock purchasable upon exercise of each stock warrant, we may elect to adjust the number of stock warrants. No adjustment in the number of shares purchasable upon exercise of the stock warrants will be required until cumulative adjustments require an adjustment of at least 1% thereof. We may, at our option, reduce the exercise price at any time. No fractional shares will be issued upon exercise of stock warrants, but we will pay the cash value of any fractional shares otherwise issuable. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in case of any consolidation, merger, or sale or conveyance of the property of First PacTrust Bancorp as an entirety or substantially as an entirety, the holder of each outstanding stock warrant will have the right upon the exercise thereof to the kind and amount of shares of stock and other securities and property, including cash, receivable by a holder of the number of shares of common stock or preferred stock into which such stock warrants were exercisable immediately prior thereto.

DESCRIPTION OF RIGHTS

This section describes the general terms of the rights to purchase common stock or other securities that we may offer using this prospectus. Further terms of the rights will be stated in the applicable prospectus supplement. The following description and any description of the rights in a prospectus supplement may not be complete and is subject to and qualified in its entirety by reference to the terms of any agreement relating to the rights.

 

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Rights may be issued independently or together with any other security and may or may not be transferable. As part of the rights offering, we may enter into a standby underwriting or other arrangement under which the underwriters or any other person would purchase any securities that are not purchased in such rights offering. The prospectus supplement relating to any rights we offer will describe the specific terms of the offering and the rights, including:

 

•

the record date for determining security holders entitled to the rights distribution;

 

•

the number of rights issued and the number of shares of common stock or other securities that may be purchased upon exercise of the rights;

 

•

the exercise price of the rights;

 

•

the steps required to exercise the rights;

 

•

the date on which the rights will become effective and the date on which the rights will expire;

 

•

whether the rights will include oversubscription rights, so that the holder may purchase more securities if other holders do not purchase their full allotments;

 

•

whether we intend to sell the shares of common stock or other securities that are not purchased in the offering to an underwriter or other purchaser under a contractual standby commitment or other arrangement;

 

•

our ability to withdraw or terminate the rights offering prior to the expiration date of the rights;

 

•

any material U.S. Federal income tax consequences.

Prior to the exercise of their rights, holders of rights will not have any of the rights of holders of the securities purchasable upon the exercise of the rights, and will not be entitled to, among other things, vote or receive dividend payments or other distributions on the securities purchasable upon exercise.

DESCRIPTION OF UNITS

Units will consist of any combination of one or more of the other securities described in this prospectus. The applicable prospectus supplement or supplements will also describe:

 

•

the designation and the terms of the units and of any combination of the securities constituting the units, including whether and under what circumstances those securities may be held or traded separately;

 

•

any additional terms of the agreement governing the units;

 

•

any additional provisions for the issuance, payment, settlement, transfer or exchange of the units or of the securities constituting the units;

 

•

any applicable United States federal income tax consequences; and

 

•

whether the units will be issued in fully registered form.

 

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The terms and conditions described under “Description of Debt Securities,” “Description of Warrants,” and “Description of Common Stock and Preferred Stock” will apply to each unit that includes such securities and to the securities included in each unit, unless otherwise specified in the applicable prospectus supplement.

We will issue the units under one or more unit agreements to be entered into between us and a bank or trust company, as unit agent. We may issue units in one or more series, which will be described in the applicable prospectus supplement.

DESCRIPTION OF GLOBAL SECURITIES

Unless otherwise indicated in the applicable prospectus supplement, we may issue the securities in the form of one or more fully registered global securities that will be deposited with a depository or its nominee identified in the applicable prospectus supplement and registered in the name of that depository or its nominee. In those cases, one or more registered global securities will be issued in a denomination or aggregate denominations equal to the portion of the aggregate principal or face amount of the securities to be represented by registered global securities. Unless and until it is exchanged in whole for securities in definitive registered form, a registered global security may not be transferred except as a whole by and among the depository for the registered global security, the nominees of the depository or any successors of the depository or those nominees.

If not described below, any specific terms of the depository arrangement with respect to any securities to be represented by a registered global security will be described in the prospectus supplement relating to those securities. We anticipate that the following provisions will apply to all depository arrangements.

Ownership of beneficial interests in a registered global security will be limited to persons, called participants, that have accounts with the depository or persons that may hold interests through participants. Upon the issuance of a registered global security, the depository will credit, on its book-entry registration and transfer system, the participants’ accounts with the respective principal or face amounts of the securities beneficially owned by the participants. Any dealers, underwriters or agents participating in the distribution of the securities will designate the accounts to be credited.

Ownership of beneficial interests in a registered global security will be shown on, and the transfer of ownership interests will be effected only through, records maintained by the depository, with respect to interests of participants, and on the records of participants, with respect to interests of persons holding through participants. The laws of some states may require that some purchasers of securities take physical delivery of these securities in definitive form. These laws may impair your ability to own, transfer or pledge beneficial interests in registered global securities.

So long as the depository, or its nominee, is the registered owner of a registered global security, that depository or its nominee, as the case may be, will be considered the sole owner or holder of the securities represented by the registered global security for all purposes. Except as described below, owners of beneficial interests in a registered global security will not be entitled to have the securities represented by the registered global security registered in their names, will not receive or be entitled to receive physical delivery of the securities in definitive form and will not be considered the owners or holders of the securities. Accordingly, each person owning a beneficial interest in a registered global security must rely on the procedures of the depository for that registered global security and, if that person is not a participant, on the procedures of the participant through which the person owns its interest, to exercise any rights of a holder under the applicable indenture, warrant agreement or unit agreement. We understand that under existing industry practices, if we request any action of holders or if an owner of a beneficial interest in a registered global security

 

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desires to give or take any action that a holder is entitled to give or take, the depository for the registered global security would authorize the participants holding the relevant beneficial interests to give or take that action, and the participants would authorize beneficial owners owning through them to give or take that action or would otherwise act upon the instructions of beneficial owners holding through them.

Payments of principal of, and premium, if any, and interest on, debt securities, and any payments to holders with respect to other securities represented by a registered global security registered in the name of a depository or its nominee will be made to the depository or its nominee, as the case may be, as the registered owner of the registered global security. None of First PacTrust Bancorp, the trustees, the warrant agents or any preferred stock depositary, as applicable, will have any responsibility or liability for any aspect of the records relating to or the payments made on account of beneficial ownership interests in the registered global security or for maintaining, supervising or reviewing any records relating to those beneficial ownership interests.

We expect that the depository for any of the securities represented by a registered global security, upon receipt of any payment of principal, premium, interest or other distribution of underlying securities or other property to holders on that registered global security, will immediately credit participants’ accounts in amounts proportionate to their respective beneficial interests in that registered global security as shown on the records of the depository. We also expect that payments by participants to owners of beneficial interests in a registered global security held through participants will be governed by standing customer instructions and customary practices, as is now the case with the securities held for the accounts of customers in bearer form or registered in “street name,” and will be the responsibility of those participants.

If the depository for any of these securities represented by a registered global security is at any time unwilling or unable to continue as depository or ceases to be a clearing agency registered under the Exchange Act, and a successor depository registered as a clearing agency under the Exchange Act is not appointed by us within 90 days, we will issue securities in definitive form in exchange for the registered global security that had been held by the depository. In addition, under the terms of the indenture, we may at any time and in our sole discretion decide not to have any of the securities represented by one or more registered global securities. We understand, however, that, under current industry practices, the depository would notify its participants of our request, but will only withdraw beneficial interests from a global security at the request of each participant. We would issue definitive certificates in exchange for any such interests withdrawn. Any securities issued in definitive form in exchange for a registered global security will be registered in the name or names that the depository gives to the applicable trustee, warrant agent, unit agent or other relevant agent of ours or theirs. It is expected that the depository’s instructions will be based upon directions received by the depository from participants with respect to ownership of beneficial interests in the registered global security that had been held by the depository.

PLAN OF DISTRIBUTION

We may sell our securities in any of three ways (or in any combination):

 

•

through underwriters or dealers;

 

•

through agents; or

 

•

directly to purchasers or to a single purchaser.

 

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Each time that we use this prospectus to sell our securities, we will also provide a prospectus supplement that contains the specific terms of the offering. The prospectus supplement will set forth the terms of the offering of such securities, including:

 

•

the name or names of any underwriters, dealers or agents and the type and amounts of securities underwritten or purchased by each of them; and

 

•

the public offering price of the securities and the proceeds to us and any discounts, commissions or concessions allowed or reallowed or paid to dealers.

Any public offering price and any discounts or concessions allowed or reallowed or paid to dealers may be changed from time to time.

If underwriters are used in the sale of any securities, the securities will be acquired by the underwriters for their own account and may be resold from time to time in one or more transactions, including negotiated transactions, at a fixed public offering price or at varying prices determined at the time of sale. The securities may be either offered to the public through underwriting syndicates represented by managing underwriters, or directly by underwriters. Generally, the underwriters’ obligations to purchase the securities will be subject to certain conditions precedent. The underwriters will be obligated to purchase all of the securities if they purchase any of the securities.

We may sell the securities through agents from time to time. The prospectus supplement will name any agent involved in the offer or sale of our securities and any commissions we pay to them. Generally, any agent will be acting on a best efforts basis for the period of its appointment.

We may authorize underwriters, dealers or agents to solicit offers by certain purchasers to purchase our securities at the public offering price set forth in the prospectus supplement pursuant to delayed delivery contracts providing for payment and delivery on a specified date in the future. The contracts will be subject only to those conditions set forth in the prospectus supplement, and the prospectus supplement will set forth any commissions or discounts we pay for solicitation of these contracts.

Pursuant to a requirement by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), the maximum commission or discount to be received by any FINRA member or independent broker-dealer may not be greater than 8% of the gross proceeds received by us from the sale of any securities registered pursuant to SEC Rule 415.

Agents and underwriters may be entitled to indemnification by us against certain civil liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or to contribution with respect to payments which the agents or underwriters may be required to make in respect thereof. Agents and underwriters may be customers of, engage in transactions with, or perform services for us in the ordinary course of business.

We may enter into derivative transactions with third parties, or sell securities not covered by this prospectus to third parties in privately negotiated transactions. If the applicable prospectus supplement so indicates in connection with those derivatives, then the third parties may sell securities covered by this prospectus and the applicable prospectus supplement, including in short sale transactions. In that event, the third party may use securities pledged by us or borrowed from us or others to settle those sales or to close out any related open borrowings of stock, and may use securities received from us in settlement of those derivatives to close out any related open borrowings of securities. The third party in such sale transactions will be an underwriter and will be identified in the applicable prospectus supplement (or a post-effective amendment).

 

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LEGAL MATTERS

Certain legal matters will be passed upon for us by Silver, Freedman & Taff, L.L.P., Washington, D.C.

EXPERTS

The consolidated financial statements of First PacTrust Bancorp, Inc. as of December 31, 2009 and 2008 and for each of the years in the three year period ended December 31, 2009 have been incorporated by reference herein in reliance upon the report of Crowe Horwath LLP, independent registered public accounting firm, incorporated by reference herein, and upon the authority of said firm as experts in accounting and auditing.

 

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207,360 Shares of Voting Common Stock

 

 

 

PROSPECTUS SUPPLEMENT

 

 

 

June 22, 2011