We are investigating Provident Financial Services, Inc. (PFS) (“Provident” or the “Company”) for potential violations of the federal securities laws.
On April 27, 2018, Provident released its financial results for the first fiscal quarter of 2018, disclosing “deterioration in selected commercial credits, including a $15.4 million credit to a commercial borrower” that had filed for bankruptcy in March 2018. Provident further disclosed that the Company had established a $2.5 million specific reserve for this impaired loan. On July 5, 2018, Provident disclosed that the Company expected an additional reserve would be required for the remaining balance of the previously disclosed $15.4 million credit, and that its net income for the quarter ended June 30, 2018 would be reduced by up to $9.3 million, after tax, or up to $0.14 per diluted share. Then, on July 27, 2018, pre-market, Provident released its financial results for the second fiscal quarter of 2018, disclosing that two additional loans from another commercial borrower became impaired during the quarter, leading to a net charge-off of $4 million. Provident’s Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”), Christopher Martin (“Martin”), stated that the losses “were primarily driven by two commercial relationships which we believe involved borrower fraud in each instance.” On this news, Provident’s stock price fell $1.46 per share, or 5.27%, to close at $26.23 per share on July 27, 2018. Later, in December 2019, certain Provident emails were made public during the course of litigation in New York state court, which indicated that Provident was aware of the fraudulent nature of and/or risks posed by at least one of its failed loans. Specifically, Provident executives and top-level management, including CEO Martin, seemingly ignored multiple red flags regarding a potential loan to Lotus Exim International (“Lotus”) before ultimately extending a $17 million loan to Lotus.