Friday, November 14, 2014

  Largest Financial Literacy Education Event: Banc of California breaks Guinness World Records record (VIDEO)

IRVINE, CA, USA -- Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE: BANC) announced that its presentation of the "World's Largest Financial Literacy Education Event," featuring a keynote speech from President Bill Clinton, was officially certified by Guinness World Records as breaking two records: the Biggest Ever Financial Literacy Training and Biggest Ever Financial Literacy Training in One Venue; held at the University of Southern California's (USC) Galen Center, KPMG officially tallied that 5,964 students from at-risk communities throughout Southern California were trained at the event—easily setting both world records, according to the World Record Academy: www.worldrecordacademy.com/ .

  Photo: Held at the University of Southern California's (USC) Galen Center, KPMG officially tallied that 5,964 students from at-risk communities throughout Southern California were trained at the event—easily setting both world records. ( enlarge photo )

The Guinness World Records' record for the largest CPR training session involved 11,840 participants and was organised by Klinik für Anästhesiologie, operative Intensivmedizin und Schmerztherapie Münster (Germany), in Münster, Germany, on 17 September 2013.

  Guinness World Records also recognized the world record for the largest Automated External Defibrillation (AED) training session; it is 3242 and was achieved by The Dutch Heart Foundation (Netherlands) in Arnhem, Netherlands, on 6 June 2014.

   "We are grateful to President Clinton for joining us to shine a bright light on the importance of financial literacy training. His presence and shared experiences served as an inspirational example of why financial literacy is an important and necessary skill for young people," said Steven Sugarman, Banc of California's President and Chief Executive Officer.

    "I want to congratulate our team and community partners for working to make this world record event possible and for the positive effect it has had on thousands of kids."

    Designed to inspire students to reach their goals in life and to teach the importance of financial literacy skills, the event was hosted by Sugarman and the 41st Mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa, senior advisor to Banc of California.

   Also speaking were: Chad Brownstein, Vice Chairman of Banc of California; Eric Holoman, President of Magic Johnson Enterprises and Chairman of Banc of California's Board of Directors Community Development Committee; and Denise Winston, a noted financial expert and author, who led the educational component of the program.

 In part of his on-stage remarks addressing the young people in attendance, President Clinton said, "If you want to be powerful, if you want to live your dreams, if you want to get an education and make the most of it, you've got to know how to handle your money. Financial literacy is a very fancy term for saying: spend it smart, don't blow it, save what you can."

   "Having an understanding of basic financial concepts, such as how to balance a check book, can make a tangible difference in a young person's ability to succeed. Financial literacy needs to be as fundamental as reading, writing and arithmetic," said Mayor Villaraigosa.
  "Banc of California wants to help improve financial literacy education for our young people so that they can better fulfill the American dream. This event is an example of that effort."

   More than a dozen other community partners also brought deserving students to the event including: Los Angeles Team Mentoring, Los Angeles Conservation Corps, Partnership for Los Angeles Schools, JVS Los Angeles, and the Los Angeles Unified School District Beyond the Bell program.