Denial of sales claims from US Western Alliance

US regional bank Western Alliance has denied reports that it has hired consultants to explore strategic options for a sale. The Phoenix-based bank said in a statement that the news that it was considering potentially selling all or part of Western Alliance was untrue. The statement underlined that there was not a single element of truth in the news and said, "Western Alliance is not exploring a sale and has not hired a consultant to explore strategic options." It was emphasized in the statement that all legal options were being evaluated in response to the news. Following the news, Phoenix-based Western Alliance Bank's shares lost more than 50 percent of their value, and trading in their shares was occasionally halted. The decline in regional bank shares in the US continues The problems in the banking sector, which began with the bankruptcy of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank in early March in the US, came to the fore again with the sharp decline in the shares of First Republic Bank, which revealed deposit losses in its first-quarter balance sheet announced last week. The US Federal Deposit Insurance Fund (FDIC) announced at the beginning of the week that First Republic Bank was being closed and its assets would be acquired by JPMorgan Chase. First Republic Bank became the third bank to go bankrupt in the US in two months following a sharp increase in interest rates. Following these developments, the decline in regional banks' stocks deepened after PacWest Bank announced that it was also holding talks with potential partners and investors about strategic options.