Republic First is not First Republic, other examples of mistaken identity (NASDAQ:FRBK)

Republic Very first Bancorp (NASDAQ:FRBK) is owning a bit of an id crisis its identify is uncomfortably equivalent to First Republic Bank (NYSE:FRC), which was the topic of a megabank rescue previously this thirty day period.

To handle the confusion among the two names Republic First (FRBK) CEO Thomas X. Geisel plastered a purple banner across the organization website’s home webpage: “Republic Lender is conscious of recent information concerning the collapse of two major U.S. banking institutions, and want to guarantee our prospects that we continue being in a secure and secure setting.”

“We are Republic Lender Inc. (FRBK-Red/Blue Logo) we are NOT Very first Republic Lender (FRC-Green Brand),” Geisel stressed.

In the previous thirty day period, San Francisco-dependent Very first Republic Financial institution (FRC) shares plummeted 89%. It serves clientele equivalent to those of Silicon Valley Bank, which was shuttered on March 10 when its venture capital-backed clients rushed to withdraw deposits in a social media-driven worry. With depositors at 1st Republic (FRC) also nervous, a group of 11 of the country’s major financial institutions arrived to its rescue by depositing a complete of $30B into First Republic accounts.

In his information on the FRBK web page, Geisel reported there are important distinctions concerning his lender and Very first Republic (FRC). “We DO NOT lend to begin-ups and are not concerned in Crypto. We lend mostly to founded firms. We lend towards collateral and income circulation, we lend to financially rewarding companies that can service the credit card debt, and we usually have individual ensures,” he wrote.

To be absolutely sure FRBK’s inventory value, down 30% in the previous thirty day period, has not dropped as much as FRC’s, but it has underperformed the KBW Nasdaq Lender Index (BKX), which fell 25%.

But Republic To start with (FRBK) is not the initial, and certainly will not be the very last, to get caught up in confusion concerning very similar-sounding names or ticker symbols. Here are various about the very last 20 decades:

• Amid the crypto frenzy in 2021, Ethan Allen’s (ETD) ticker, “ETH” at the time, was typically perplexed for Ethereum (ETH-USD). The household furniture retailer improved its investing symbol to “ETD” in August of that yr.
• In February 202, Clubhouse Media Group (OTCPK:CMGR) inventory surged on some investors’ mistaken perception that it was relevant to the Clubhouse audo app. Clubhouse Media (OTCPK:CMGR), previously acknowledged as Tongji Health care Group, is in the social media branding marketspace.
• Sign Progress (OTCPK:SIGL) inventory far more than quintupled on Jan. 11, 2021 right after Elon Musk urged his Twitter followers to use Sign, a protected messaging service that’s unrelated to SIGL.
• In July 2020, Tiziana Lifestyle Sciences (TLSA), a medical biotech business, noticed its inventory drop 14%, probably as investors understood they hadn’t bought Tesla (TSLA) shares. It was believed that Robinhood people had been mistyping the TSLA ticker.
• When videoconferencing surged in 2020 because of to COVID-19, Zoom Movie Communications (ZM) saw its company soar. But trading also surged in Zoom Technologies (ZOOM), a mainly defunct organization that the moment distributed wireless goods and modems. On Feb. 27, ZOOM experienced rocketed up 52%. The confusion was so prevalent that the SEC experienced suspended buying and selling in ZOOM from March 26, 2020 by means of April 8, 2020.
• In 2018, nanocap organization Snap Interactive, then with a ticker of “STVI” rebranded as PeerStream to minimize confusion with social media platform Snap (SNAP). Snap Interactive had sued Snap for trademark infringement, but the two experienced settled the issue out of courtroom over a calendar year before.
• Back again in 2013, some traders confused Twitter, then with the ticker “TWTR”, with Tweeter Residence Entertainment (OTC:TWTRQ).