Industry Finance and Insurance Chief risk officer Kim R. Bingham Total assets 13.3 billion USD (2015) Chief credit officer Donald S. Chow | Products Banking Number of employees 1,122 COO Irwin Wong | |
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Type Subsidiary of Cathay General Bancorp (國泰萬通金控)) Traded as NASDAQ: CATYS&P 400 Component Key people Dunson K. Cheng (Executive Chairman)Pin Tai (CEO, President) Headquarters Los Angeles, California, United States Subsidiaries GBC Venture Capital Inc | ||
Cathay Bank (traditional Chinese: 國泰銀行; simplified Chinese: 国泰银行; pinyin: Guótài Yínháng) is a Chinese American bank based in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1962, it has since expanded its network throughout California and into Massachusetts, New York, Texas, Washington, Illinois, New Jersey, Nevada, Maryland, and Hong Kong. Additionally, it has representative offices in Shanghai and Taipei.
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The headquarter is in Chinatown, Los Angeles, and there is a corporate center in El Monte, California.
History
Cathay Bank first opened in 1962 in Los Angeles' Chinatown as the first Chinese-American bank in Southern California. In 1979 it opened its first branch office in Monterey Park. Its first overseas representative office in Hong Kong was opened in 1985.
In 1999, Cathay expanded beyond California by opening a loan production office in Houston, Texas, which was converted to a full service branch in 2000. Expansion to New York occurred in 1999 with the acquisition of certain assets of Golden City Commercial Bank.
In 2003, branch offices were opened in Boston, Massachusetts, and Kent, Washington. Cathay merged with General Bank in 2003. In 2006, Cathay prevailed in a bidding war with United Commercial Bank to acquire Great Eastern Bank. Cathay also acquired New Asia Bank in 2006.
On March 31, 2006, announced plans to acquire a 20% stake in First Sino Bank, but the deal fell through due to the companies failing to get approval from the Chinese government. On March 30, 2007, Cathay expanded into New Jersey when it completed its acquisition of United Heritage Bank.
In 2007, Cathay Bank converts its Hong Kong Representative office into a full service branch.
On January 21, 2015, Cathay General Bancorp, the holding company for Cathay Bank, and Asia Bancshares, the holding company for Asia Bank, N.A., announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement for the merger of Asia Bancshares into Cathay. The result of the merger increased Cathay Bank's presence in New York as well as added Maryland to its list of service areas.
On July 8, 2016, Cathay announced plans to acquire Far East National Bank.