Editor’s Note: East West Bank has several South Bay branches and United Commercial Bank has a Torrance branch serving the South Bay south communities. This acquisition will significantely enhance East West’s position in the local market.
![East-West-Bank[1]](http://www.businessinsider.us/BusinessInsider/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/East-West-Bank1.png "East-West-Bank[1]")
By RICHARD CLOUGH
(Los Angeles Business Journal) East West Bank nearly doubled in size late Friday after acquiring San Francisco’s United Commercial Bank, which was closed by regulators earlier in the evening.
East West Bancorp Inc., a Pasadena holding company for a bank catering to the Chinese-American community, purchased $10.2 billion in United Commercial’s assets, including 63 branches located mostly in California, and all $7.5 billion of its deposits. Under the terms of East West’s agreement with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the bank entered into a loss-share transaction on $7.7 billion of the assets.
The acquisition boosts East West’s assets to more than $22 billion, making it the largest bank headquartered in Southern California, surpassing $18 billion-asset City National Bank. The move also makes it the largest Chinese-American bank in the United States, East West said.
“This is a transformational event for both institutions and represents an exciting growth opportunity for East West,” Chief Executive Dominic Ng said in a statement. “For East West, the transaction strengthens our presence in key markets throughout the U.S. and Asia and is another important milestone in realizing our vision to be recognized as the premier bridge between East and West.”
