East West Bancorp Declares Fourth Quarter 2008 Dividends

East West Bancorp, Inc. (Nasdaq: EWBC), parent company of East West Bank, today announced that its Board of Directors declared a quarterly dividend of $.10 per share on its common stock. The dividend will be payable on or about November 24, 2008 to shareholders of record as of November 10, 2008.

The Board of Directors also approved a quarterly dividend of $20.00 per depository share on its non-cumulative perpetual convertible preferred stock. The dividend will be payable on or about November 3, 2008 to shareholders of record as of October 15, 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 FDIC insured and 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.

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, 2007 (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.