Is My Money Safe? What You Need to Know About Bank Failures

A sign for a First Republic Bank location is shown in San Francisco, Tuesday, April 25, 2023. Regulators seized troubled First Republic Bank early Monday and sold all of its deposits and most of its assets to JPMorgan Chase Bank in a bid to head off further banking turmoil in the US. Jeff Chiu/AP

NEW YORK—Recent turmoil in the banking industry may have you worried about your money.

Shares of PacWest, a small regional bank based in Los Angeles, plunged almost 40% Thursday after the company confirmed it may put itself up for sale. Anxiety over potential bank runs has sent shares of smaller banks tumbling. A bank run is when large numbers of people withdraw their money from a bank all at once.