First Foundation Inc. Files Shelf Registration

First Foundation Inc. (NASDAQ: FFWM) (the “Company”), a financial services company with two wholly-owned operating subsidiaries, First Foundation Advisors and First Foundation Bank, announced today that it has filed a universal shelf registration statement on Form S-3 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). Upon being declared effective by the SEC, this universal shelf registration statement will allow the Company to publicly offer and sell various types of securities from time to time, up to an aggregate of $200 million.

“We have taken the steps to essentially renew the shelf registration we filed three and a half years ago,” said Scott F. Kavanaugh, Chief Executive Officer of the Company. “While this is not related to any specific corporate activity, we want to be well-positioned should any attractive growth opportunities arise.”

The shelf registration statement relating to these securities has been filed with the SEC but has not yet become effective. These securities may not be sold nor may offers to buy be accepted prior to the time the registration statement becomes effective. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any jurisdiction in which an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration and qualification under the securities law of such jurisdiction. Any offering of the securities covered by the shelf registration statement will be made solely by means of a prospectus and an accompanying prospectus supplement relating to that offering. A copy of the prospectus included in the registration statement may be obtained on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.

After the shelf registration statement becomes effective, the Company may offer and sell securities covered by the shelf registration statement through one or more methods of distribution.

About First Foundation

First Foundation, a financial institution founded in 1990 provides private wealth management, personal banking, and business banking. The Company has offices in California, Nevada, and Hawaii with headquarters in Irvine, California. For more information, please visit www.firstfoundationinc.com.

Forward Looking Statements

This news release includes certain forward-looking statements about the Company and potential future sales of securities that are intended to be covered by the safe harbor provided in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements often include words such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "estimate," "project," or words of similar meaning, or future or conditional verbs such as "will," "would," "should," "could," or "may." The forward looking statements in this news release are based on current information and on assumptions that we make about future events and circumstances that are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that are often difficult to predict and beyond our control. As a result of those risks and uncertainties, our actual financial results in the future could differ, possibly materially, from those expressed in or implied by the forward looking statements contained in this news release and could cause us to make changes to our future plans. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the impact of the filing of a shelf registration statement on Form S-3 on the Company’s financial flexibility, prevailing market conditions at the time any securities may be offered by the Company and other risks that are described in our public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Additional information regarding these and other risks and uncertainties to which our business and future financial performance are subject is contained in Item 1A, entitled “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019 that the Company filed with the SEC on March 2, 2020, and other documents the Company files with the SEC from time to time. Due to these and other possible uncertainties and risks, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this news release, which speak only as of today's date, or to make predictions based solely on historical financial performance. The Company also disclaims any obligation to update forward-looking statements contained in this news release or in the above-referenced Annual Report on Form 10-K, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law or NASDAQ rules.

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