Center Financial Corp.’s merger into onetime Koreatown rival Nara Bancorp Inc. will create the largest U.S. bank focused on the ethnic Korean market, an institution with nearly $5.3 billion in assets that will be named BBCN Bank.<\/p>\n
The parent companies of Center Bank and Nara Bank were scheduled to announce completion of their merger on Wednesday afternoon. BBCN will be the seventh-largest bank based in Los Angeles County, with $4.4 billion in deposits and 40 branches in California, New York, New Jersey, Seattle and Chicago.<\/p>\n
The banks, like many other Asian American institutions, have specialized in loans to smaller businesses. About half of their assets are in commercial mortgages, a banking sector whose losses during the recession have increased pressures on the ethnic banks to consolidate.<\/p>\n
They announced plans to merge last December, with Center shareholders receiving about $270 million in Nara stock. Alvin Kang, Nara’s chief executive, will become chief executive of the merged bank.<\/p>\n
The new name derives from Business Bank of Center and Nara, a name that was under consideration but lost out to the shorter BBCN.<\/p>\n
http:\/\/latimesblogs.latimes.com\/money_co\/2011\/11\/completion-of-merger-will-create-largest-korean-american-bank.html<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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