East West Bancorp, Inc. (Nasdaq: EWBC), parent company of East West
Bank, one of the nation’s premier community banks, today announced the
promotion of Irene H. Oh to Executive Vice President and Chief Financial
Officer. Oh succeeds Thomas J. Tolda who held the position since April
2008 and resigned, effective today, for personal reasons.
Oh will be responsible for the Company’s finance, treasury, accounting,
secondary marketing, and investor relations functions. She will report
to Julia Gouw, President and Chief Operating Officer.
"Irene Oh has been an invaluable member of our senior management team
with strong financial expertise and proven risk management skills,” said
Dominic Ng, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "We look forward to
working closely with Irene as we execute East West’s strategy and
communicate our progress to our shareholders and the financial
community,” continued Ng.
Julia Gouw stated, "Irene brings a wealth of experience to the CFO
position and will perform an essential role in not only overseeing our
financial and accounting functions, but also in the development and
execution of our corporate growth strategies. She is critical to our M&A
process and most recently led the due diligence and finalization of the
assets and liabilities of United Commercial Bank acquired by East West
in the November 2009 FDIC-assisted transaction.”
Oh joined the Company in 2005 and served as Senior Vice President and
Director of Corporate Finance. A Certified Public Accountant, she began
her financial career in 1999 with Deloitte & Touche in Los Angeles and
spent two years with Goldman Sachs. Oh earned her Master of Accounting
from the University of Southern California.
Ng concluded, "We thank Tom Tolda for his contributions to East West
during one of the most challenging periods in the Bank’s history. He
made a number of key contributions that enabled the Bank to stay ahead
of the economic recovery curve and return to profitability in 2009. We
wish Tom well in his future endeavors.”
About East West
East West Bancorp is a publicly owned company with $20.6 billion in
assets and is traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol
"EWBC”. The Company’s wholly owned subsidiary, East West Bank, is the
third largest independent commercial bank headquartered in California
with 135 branches worldwide; including 111 branches in California, eight
branches in New York, five branches in Georgia, three branches in
Massachusetts, two branches in Texas, and two branches in Washington. In
Greater China, East West's presence includes four full-service branches,
including two in Hong Kong, one in Shanghai, and one in Shantou. The
Bank also has representative offices in Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai and
Shenzhen, China, and Taipei, Taiwan. For more information on East West
Bancorp, visit the Company’s website at www.eastwestbank.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release may contain forward-looking statements, which are
included in accordance with the "safe harbor” provisions of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and accordingly, the cautionary
statements contained in East West Bancorp’s Annual Report on Form 10-K
for the year ended Dec. 31, 2008 (See Item I -- Business, and Item 7 --
Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Consolidated Financial Condition
and Results of Operations), and other filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission are incorporated herein by reference. These factors
include, but are not limited to: the effect of interest rate and
currency exchange fluctuations; competition in the financial services
market for both deposits and loans; EWBC’s ability to efficiently
incorporate acquisitions into its operations; the ability of borrowers
to perform as required under the terms of their loans; effect of
additional provisions for loan losses; effect of any goodwill
impairment, the ability of EWBC and its subsidiaries to increase its
customer base; the effect of regulatory and legislative action,
including California tax legislation and an announcement by the state’s
Franchise Tax Board regarding the taxation of Registered Investment
Companies; and regional and general economic conditions.
Actual
results and performance in future periods may be materially different
from any future results or performance suggested by the forward-looking
statements in this release. Such forward-looking statements speak only
as of the date of this release. East West expressly disclaims any
obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements found
herein to reflect any changes in the Bank’s expectations of results or
any change in event.
