East West Bancorp Announces Dates for Earnings Release and Dividend Declarations

East West Bancorp (Nasdaq: EWBC) will announce third quarter 2008 earnings to the public on Tuesday, October 28, 2008 at 8:30 A.M. PT/ 11:30 A.M. ET via the Company’s live quarterly earnings conference call. The public and investment community are invited to listen as management discusses third quarter results and operating developments. Those wishing to hear the conference call may log on to http://www.streetevents.com or http://www.eastwestbank.com.

Financial results and the East West Bank Board of Directors declaration of Common and Preferred Stock Dividends will be released over the news wires after the market closes on Monday, October 27, 2008.

About East West

East West Bancorp is a publicly owned company, with $11.7 billion in assets, whose stock is traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol "EWBC”. The company’s wholly owned subsidiary, East West Bank, is the second largest independent commercial bank headquartered in Southern California with 72 branch locations. East West Bank serves the community with 70 branch locations across Southern and Northern California and a branch location in Houston, Texas. East West Bank has three international locations in Greater China, including a full-service branch in Hong Kong and representative offices in Beijing and Shanghai. For more information on East West Bancorp, visit the company’s website at www.eastwestbank.com.