PASADENA - When East West Bank's Chairman and CEO Dominic Ng first crafted the bank's mission statement 18 years ago, the goal was to make the business a bridge between the East and West.
That's when it had about nine branches and about 200 employees.
When the Pasadena-based bank acquired the troubled San Francisco- based United Commercial Bank in November, that bridge became a reality for what now is about 2,500 employees who work at 111 branches around the globe.
Along with new branches in Boston, New York, Atlanta and Seattle, the bank acquired two branches in China, noticeably raising its profile in trade and finance.
"UCB is clearly a transformational change," Ng said.
Now, Ng prefers not to speak about his bank in terms of "regional," or "community" terms.
Rather, he likes to think of the bank as unique - the largest of its kind in the nation, bank officials said, that is focused on the Asian American community.
The UCB deal allows East West, with its $21 billion in assets, to operate a branch in Shanghai and another in Shantou, China.
Part of being a "bridge," Ng said, is to be a conduit for trade and business between the U.S. and China.
While the bank has had a presence in places like Hong Kong and Beijing, the new branches Clip in hair extensions will allow East West to do business in Chinese currency.
That's a significant step further, he added.
"If we have a customer importing shoes or toys from China ... and they have a joint venture partnership with a manufacturer in Shanghai, in the past we could never be able to finance or provide business for that business in China," Ng said.
That financing could only be provided by Chinese banks, he said.
The growth into China can help not only the bank's bottom line but also the local economy, said Jack Kyser, founding economist for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp.
"If you have Chinese companies looking to locate in the U.S., you can work with the people at East West to help them answer questions, and find what they need," he said.
The connections to China alone, and the ability to communicate give the bank a huge advantage, he said.
Chester Chong, president of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, echoed that point.
"It's a good advantage, and is definitely a benefit for East West Bank," he said. "If you can't communicate and don't understand the culture, what happens is fights."
Greater China is not the only new frontier for East West. So are places like Seattle, Massachusetts and Atlanta. And while they are not bastions of Asian business like L.A. County and the San Gabriel Valley, Ng is optimistic about serving customers in those areas and tapping into Seattle's Microsoft-driven tech industry and Atlanta's multinational corporations.
But he isn't overly eager.
"We don't have to panic," Ng said. "In time, we'll gradually start building expertise in those regions. We're going to take our time and do it slowly."
tag heuer replica Going slow would be in contrast to the bank East West just acquired in a deal brokered by the Federal Deposit Insura
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