September 17, 2020 - An amended complaint was filed.

March 26, 2020 - An investor in shares of Hanmi Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: HAFC) filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California over alleged violations of Federal Securities Laws by Hanmi Financial Corporation in connection with certain allegedly false and misleading statements made between August 12, 2019 and January 28, 2020.

Los Angeles, CA based Hanmi Financial Corporation operates as the holding company for Hanmi Bank that provides business banking products and services in the United States. Hanmi Financial Corporation reported that its annual Total Revenue declined from $210.21 million in 2017 to $205.53 million in 2018 and that its Net Income increased from $54.32 million in 2017 to $57.5 million in 2018.

On January 28, 2020, Hanmi Financial Corporation announced its financial results for the 2019 fiscal fourth quarter. Therein, Hanmi Financial Corporation reported net income of $3.1 million for fourth quarter 2019, which included a $6.9 million specific provision for loan and lease losses related to [a] previously identified $39.7 million troubled loan relationship. According to Hanmi’s President and Chief Executive Officer Bonnie Lee, [w]ith the loans comprising this relationship maturing on December 31, 2019, [Hanmi] received current appraisals on the personal property securing the relationship and ha[s] provided for a specific allowance at the lower range of the appraised values.

Shares of Hanmi Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: HAFC) declined from $20.79 per share on December 20, 2019 to as low as $16.30 per share on January 29, 2020.

According to the complaint the plaintiff alleges on behalf of purchasers of Hanmi Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: HAFC) common shares between August 12, 2019 and January 28, 2020, that the defendants violated Federal Securities Laws. More specifically, the plaintiff claims that between August 12, 2019 and January 28, 2020, the defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that the specified $40.7 million troubled loan would necessitate further and future specific provisions for the Company – in the millions, that the specified $40.7 million troubled loan would necessitate the Company to appraise and take personal property securing a portion of the amount of the loan, and that as a result, defendants’ statements about its business, operations, and prospects, were materially false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages.