Western Alliance (WAL) CHRO Barbara Kennedy Cash-Settles Vested Units ($21.2K)

What Happened

• Barbara Kennedy, Chief Human Resources Officer of Western Alliance Bancorporation (WAL), had three sets of cash-settled equity units vest and be converted on Aug 15, 2026. She converted 101, 74 and 82 units and immediately disposed of them to the issuer at $82.32 per unit, receiving cash proceeds of ~$8,314, $6,092 and $6,750 respectively (total ≈ $21,156). The Form 4 shows the conversions as derivative exercises (code M) and the payouts as dispositions to the issuer (code D). The reported acquisition price of $0.00 reflects that these were vested units payable in cash (no out-of-pocket exercise price).

Key Details

• Transaction date: Aug 15, 2026; Form 4 filed Aug 18, 2026 (appears timely).
• Units converted & cashed: 101 @ $82.32 = $8,314.32; 74 @ $82.32 = $6,091.68; 82 @ $82.32 = $6,750.24. Total ≈ $21,156.
• Nature of instruments: Cash-settled units (each unit economically equals one share per F2); these are paid in cash when vested rather than delivering stock.
• Vesting schedules (footnotes): three awards vesting monthly (1/36th each month) beginning March 2024 (ends Feb 2027), March 2025 (ends Feb 2028), and March 2026 (ends Feb 2029).
• Shares owned after transaction: filing reports these were cash-settled units; there was no acquisition of common stock to hold — no change in share ownership reported on this Form 4.

Context

• This was not an open-market sale of stock: it reflects routine vesting and cash settlement of company performance/retention units. For retail investors, such cash-settlements are administrative (payroll-like) events rather than directional insider purchases or discretionary stock sales. The M (exercise/conversion) followed by immediate D (disposition to issuer) is a common pattern when vested units are converted and paid out in cash.