CalPrivate Bank Announces Expansion Into Santa Barbara County, Ca.

LA JOLLA, Calif., April 17, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Private Bancorp of America, Inc. (OTCQX:PBAM) (“Company”) and CalPrivate Bank (“Bank”) announced today the addition of a Montecito Office led by veteran banker, George Leis who will serve as Executive Vice President & Market President.

George Leis has been a long-standing admired member of the Santa Barbara community. George’s banking career spans more than 20 years in Santa Barbara County, including as President and CEO of both Santa Barbara Bank and Trust and Montecito Bank and Trust.

The extensive, trusting client relationships George has built over his career speak volumes to his dedication to provide extraordinary service and solutions to his clients, while his commitment to the local community is evident in his serving on numerous non-profit boards, including Channel Islands YMCA, California State University, Northridge, National Disaster Search Dog Foundation, Santa Barbara Historic Museum, Santa Barbara Humane Society, and as Chair of the National Board of the YMCA of the USA.

Joining Mr. Leis in the new Upper Village Montecito office is a team of highly experienced, dynamic local private bankers. Dan Glaeser and Sarah McLelland will lead the Relationship Management team, while Emily Strawn will oversee operations for the new office.

Rick Sowers, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company and Bank stated, “We are thrilled to have such seasoned and respected individuals join the CalPrivate Team. Having known George for years and having served alongside him on the Board of Directors for the California Bankers Association, I know George to be a person of great character, with strong leadership qualities and an unwavering commitment to the greater Santa Barbara community. His approach to relationship banking is exactly what we provide at Cal Private Bank, and we couldn’t be more pleased to partner with him and this great group of bankers.”

“I am honored to be joining the CalPrivate Team, who bring creative, high touch, timely, customized solutions to their clients,” said Mr. Leis. “The core values of Relationships, Solutions and Trust align directly with the needs of our Santa Barbara Community and I’m eager to bring these unique services to our Clients to meet their personal needs and help them grow their organizations.”

Paul Azzi, Chief Banking Officer of CalPrivate Bank added, “The passion George and his team have for building strong, long-standing Client relationships and supporting their community is a perfect match for our Client-centric, Solution-driven approach. Together, we’re ecstatic to make a real difference and deliver exceptional client results in the greater Santa Barbara community.”

About Private Bancorp of America, Inc.
Private Bancorp of America, Inc. (OTCQX: PBAM) PBAM is the holding company for CalPrivate Bank, which operates offices in Coronado, San Diego, La Jolla, Newport Beach, El Segundo, Beverly Hills, and soon Montecito, as well as through efficient digital banking services. CalPrivate Bank is driven by its core values of building client Relationships based on superior client Solutions, unparalleled Service, and mutual Trust. The Bank caters to high-net-worth individuals, professionals, closely held businesses, and real estate entrepreneurs, delivering a Distinctly Different™ personalized banking experience while leveraging cutting-edge technology to enhance our clients’ evolving needs. CalPrivate Bank is in the top tier of customer service survey ratings in the nation, scoring almost three times higher than the median domestic bank. The Bank offers comprehensive deposit and treasury services, rapid and creative loan options including various portfolio and government-guaranteed lending programs, cross border banking, and innovative, unique technologies that drive enhanced client performance. CalPrivate Bank has been recognized by Bank Director’s RankingBanking® as the 10th best bank in the country and the #1 bank in its asset class for both return on assets (ROA) and return on equity (ROE). CalPrivate Bank was also ranked in the top 5% of banks in the U.S. with assets between $2B and $10B by American Banker. Additionally, CalPrivate Bank is a Bauer Financial 5-star rated bank, an SBA Preferred Lender, and has been honored as Community Bank SBA 504 Lender of the Year by the NADCO Community Impact Awards, exemplifying excellence in the banking industry. These prestigious rankings highlight the Bank’s commitment to delivering exceptional banking services and setting new industry standards.

Learn more at www.calprivate.bank.

Investor Relations Contact
Rick Sowers
President and CEO
Private Bancorp of America, Inc.
(424) 303-4894

Safe Harbor Paragraph
This press release contains expressions of expectations, both implied and explicit, that are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of such term in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We caution you that a number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, especially given the current turmoil in the banking and financial markets. These factors include the effects of depositors withdrawing funds unexpectedly, counterparties being unable to provide liquidity sources that we believe should be available, loan losses, economic conditions and competition in the geographic and business areas in which Private Bancorp of America, Inc. operates, including competition in lending and deposit acquisition, the unpredictability of fee income from participation in SBA loan programs, the effects of bank failures, liquidations and mergers in our markets and nationally, our ability to successfully integrate and develop business through the addition of new personnel, whether our efforts to expand loan, product and service offerings will prove profitable, system failures and data security, whether we can effectively secure and implement new technology solutions, inflation, fluctuations in interest rates, legislation and governmental regulation. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and we undertake no obligation to update those statements whether as a result of changes in underlying factors, new information, future events or otherwise. These factors could cause actual results to differ materially from what we anticipate or project. You should not place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statement, which speaks only as of the date on which it was made. Although we, in good faith, believe the assumptions and bases supporting our forward-looking statements to be reasonable there can be no assurance that those assumptions and bases will prove accurate.