Southern California Bancorp Announces Changes to Its Board of Directors

San Diego, November 19, 2020 - Southern California Bancorp (the "Company") (OTC Pink: BCAL), the holding company for Bank of Southern California, N.A. (the "Bank"), announces the appointment of four new independent directors to the Board of Directors of the Company and the Bank, effective as of November 18, 2020, bringing board membership to 10, including eight independent directors. The new directors are David Holman, Jan Lynn Owen, Kaveh Varjavand and Anita Wolman. Directors Adriana Boeka and Joseph Matranga have retired from the board.

"We are pleased to welcome Dave, Jan, Kaveh and Anita to the Board of Directors of Southern California Bancorp," said David Rainer, Executive Chairman of Southern California Bancorp. "They are a talented and proven group of experienced banking and financial executives, and they bring a diverse set of expertise to our Board. We are excited to have them join us."

"Dave, Jan, Kaveh and Anita bring experience and leadership to our board that will help guide and support our strategy to expand our operations in the Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura County markets, and we look forward to their contributions," said Nathan Rogge, President and CEO of the Company and the Bank. "On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Adriana and Joseph for their long service to Southern California Bancorp and the Bank and for their much-valued contributions. We wish them all the best going forward."

The newly appointed directors bring extensive banking and board experience to the Company and the Bank:

• David Holman has 40 years of commercial banking experience, serving as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of 1^st Enterprise Bank from its incorporation in 2006 to its merger with California United Bank in 2014, at which time he became a director of its parent company, CU Bancorp, serving as Lead Director from 2015 to 2017. Prior to that, he was a senior executive at the Southern California Banking Group of First Interstate Bank for 25 years.
• Jan Lynn Owen is a senior advisor in the Manatt Financial Services group, where her practice includes accountancy, assets recovery, auditing, banking, and financial reporting. Before joining Manatt, from 2013 to 2019, she was the Commissioner of California's Department of Business Oversight, the state's financial regulator. Prior to that, she served as commissioner of the California Department of Corporations.
• Kaveh Varjavand is the president of AARCS-Accounting, Audit and Reporting Consulting Services-a firm he founded in 2013 that provides consulting services to community banks. From 2006 to 2013, he was the partner-in-charge of the Southern California Financial Services Group at Moss Adams LLP and prior to that he served as an audit partner with KPMG LLP. He also served as a director of CU Bancorp from 2015 to 2017.
• Anita Wolman served as EVP and General Counsel at CU Bancorp from 2009 to 2017 and was a founder of its wholly owned subsidiary, California United Bank, in 2005. Prior to that, she held General Counsel positions at California Commerce Bank and Pacific Century Bank.

Chairman Emeritus John Farkash, Irwin Golds, Lester Machado and David Volk will continue serving as Directors of the Company and the Bank.

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release may include forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and Southern California Bancorp and Bank of Southern California (together, the "Company") intend for such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Future events are difficult to predict, and the expectations described above are necessarily subject to risk and uncertainty that may cause actual results to differ materially and adversely. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. They often include the words "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "estimate," or words of similar meaning, or future or conditional verbs such as "will," "would," "should," "could," or "may." These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, nor should they be relied upon as representing management's views as of any subsequent date. Forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties and actual results may differ materially from those presented, either expressed or implied, in this news release. Factors that might cause such differences include, but are not limited to: the Company's ability to successfully execute its business plans and achieve its objectives; changes in general economic and financial market conditions, either nationally or locally, in areas in which the Company conducts its operations; changes in interest rates; continuing consolidation in the financial services industry; new litigation or changes in existing litigation; increased competitive challenges and expanding product and pricing pressures among financial institutions; legislation or regulatory changes which adversely affect the Company's operations or business; loss of key personnel; and changes in accounting policies or procedures as may be required by the Financial Accounting Standards Board or other regulatory agencies.

The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly revise these forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.