East West Bank

For the Philippines-based bank, see EastWest Unibank.
East West Bank
Public
Traded as NASDAQ: EWBC
Industry Financial Services
Founded Los Angeles, California, United States (1973 (1973))
Headquarters Pasadena, California, United States
Key people
 Dominic Ng (Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer)
Services Banking
US$384.7 million (2015)[1]
Total assets US$32.4 billion (2015) [1]
Parent East West Bancorp
Website eastwestbank.com
East West Bank in Chinatown, Houston (formerly the headquarters of MetroBank)

East West Bank (traditional Chinese: 華美銀行; simplified Chinese: 华美银行; pinyin: Huáměi Yínháng) is a bank based in the state of California in the United States, with assets of $33.1 billion and a market capitalization of over $5.5 billion.[2] Originally founded to serve the Chinese American community in California, it now has over 130 branch locations in the U.S and Greater China, including branches in northern and southern California, Georgia, Nevada, Massachusetts, New York, Texas, Washington. In Greater China, East West’s presence includes full service branches in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Shantou and Shenzhen,[3] and representative offices in Beijing, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Taipei and Xiamen. [4][5] It is headquartered in Pasadena, California.[6] As of its 2009 acquisition from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation of the assets of United Commercial Bank, the resulting bank was projected to start with almost $23 billion in assets, putting it ahead of L.A.-based City National as the largest bank based in Southern California.

The current Chairman and Chief Executive Officer is Dominic Ng.

History

East West Bank was founded in 1973 as a savings and loan company targeting the Chinese American community in Southern California. It became a state-chartered commercial bank in 1995.[7] The Chinese name is not a direct translation of east and west, rather it is two characters, which depend on context. 华 can mean magnificent or splendid, but is often used in conjunction with other characters to refer to China and Chinese overseas. Likewise 美 can mean 'pretty' or 'USA, American'.

Acquisitions

Map of cities with East West Bank branches.

In August 2004, East West Bancorp, the parent company of East West Bank, acquired Trust Bank, a Chinese American bank that was based in Monterey Park, California, and had assets valued at $235 million. All four branches of Trust Bank were rebranded to East West Bank's name and shareholders of Trust Bank received a total value of $32.9 million in East West Bank stock for the acquisition. According to East West Bankcorp's press release, the acquisition was estimated to be accretive to 2004 earnings per share by $0.02. [8][9]

In March 2006, East West Bank again merged with another Chinese American bank when East West Bankcorp acquired Standard Bank, headquartered in Monterey Park, California. Standard Bank had six branch locations, all located in Los Angeles county, and had assets valued at $923 million. A total value of $200.3 million was paid in the acquisition, consisting of $70.1 million in cash and 3,547,314 shares of common stock in East West Bancorp. [10] [11]

In 2007, it purchased Desert Community Bank, a community bank operating in the Victor Valley region of California. Desert Community Bank branches remain branded as such and did not change to East West Bank, however DCB members have access to the East West Bank network and vice versa.[12]

In 2009, it purchased the assets of failed United Commercial Bank, via a transaction by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. This expanded East West Bank's reach with UCB's 63 U.S. branches, including 17 in Southern California and into the Chinese American communities of Houston, Boston, and Atlanta, as well as branches in Hong Kong and China.[13]

East West Bank similarly assumed the deposits, some assets, and all four branches of Washington First International Bank in Seattle upon the latter's failure on June 11, 2010.[14]

In 2014 East West Bank acquired MetroBank for $268 million in cash and stock,[15] and MetroBank branches were to be rebranded in 2014.[16]

Naming rights

Its spokeswoman used to be figure skater Michelle Kwan. East West Bank also purchased the naming rights to the East West Ice Palace, an ice rink arena in Artesia, California.[17] It also owns the naming rights to the East West Bank Classic, a tennis tournament on the WTA Tour.

References

  1. 1 2 "East West Bancorp Reports Record Net Income for Full Year 2015 of $384.7 Million and Diluted Earnings Per Share of $2.66", Business Wire, Jan. 27, 2016
  2. ↑ "East West Bancorp beats Street 1Q forecasts", Yahoo Finance, Apr. 20, 2016
  3. ↑ "East West Bank Becomes First L.A. Bank With Branch In Shenzhen", Forbes, Nov. 18, 2014
  4. ↑ " East West Bancorp Reports Record Net Income for Full Year 2013 of $295.0 Million, and Full Year 2013 Earnings Per Share of $2.10 ", MarketWatch, Jan. 22, 2014
  5. ↑ "East West Bank Branch Locations"
  6. ↑ "10-K" (Archive). East West Bank. Retrieved on March 27, 2016. "135 North Los Robles Ave., 7th Floor, Pasadena, California (Address of principal executive offices)"
  7. ↑ http://investor.eastwestbank.com/Cache/1001155710.PDF?D=&O=PDF&IID=4040606&Y=&T=&FID=1001155710
  8. ↑ "East West Bancorp Enters Into Definitive Agreement for the Acquisition of Trust Bank , PR NewsWire, Jun. 3, 2004
  9. ↑ "East West Bancorp Closes Trust Bank Acquisition", PR NewsWire, Aug. 9, 2004
  10. ↑ "East West Bancorp and Standard Bank Enter Into Definitive Agreement for Strategic Merger" (Press release). East West Bancorp. Retrieved 2015-06-26.
  11. ↑ "East West Bancorp Closes Standard Bank Acquisition", PR NewsWire, Mar. 27, 2006
  12. ↑ http://investor.eastwestbank.com/Cache/9364582.PDF?Y=&O=PDF&D=&FID=9364582&T=&OSID=9&IID=
  13. ↑ Reckard, E. Scott (November 7, 2009). "United Commercial Bank is shut down, sold to East West Bancorp". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-05-06.
  14. ↑ Grygiel, Chris (2010-06-11). "Bad loans force closure of Seattle-based bank". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved 2010-06-12.
  15. ↑ "California bank boosts Texas footprint with MetroCorp deal." Houston Business Journal. January 23, 2014. Retrieved on April 29, 2016.
  16. ↑ "Sign of the times: MetroBank to make the switch to East West Bank." Houston Business Journal. May 6, 2014. Retrieved on April 29, 2016.
  17. ↑ "Figure Skating Champion Michelle Kwan Has New Home with Opening of East West Ice Palace" (Press release). East West Bancorp. Retrieved 2010-05-06.

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