East West Bancorp (EWBC) 10-K2023 FY Annual report

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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

The aggregate market value of the registrant’s common stock held by non-affiliates was approximately $7,396,326,818 (based on the June 30, 2023 closing price of Common Stock of $52.79 per share). As of January 31, 2024, 140,030,010 shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. Common Stock were outstanding.

Portions of the registrant’s definitive proxy statement to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to Regulation 14A relating to its 2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Form 10-K.

Forward-Looking Statements

There are various important factors that could cause future results to differ materially from historical performance and any forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause such differences, include, but are not limited to:

East West is a bank holding company incorporated in Delaware on August 26, 1998, and is registered under the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, as amended (“BHC Act”). The Company commenced business on December 30, 1998 when, pursuant to a reorganization, it acquired all of the voting stock of East West Bank (“East West Bank” or the “Bank”), which became its principal asset. East West’s principal business is to serve as a holding company for the Bank and other banking or banking-related subsidiaries that East West may establish or acquire. As of December 31, 2023, the Company had $69.6 billion in total assets, $51.5 billion in total net loans, $56.1 billion in total deposits, and $7.0 billion in total stockholders’ equity.

The Company operates in over 120 locations in the U.S. and Asia. In the U.S., the Bank’s corporate headquarters and main administrative offices are located in California; its U.S. branches and offices are located in California, Texas, New York, Washington, Georgia, Massachusetts, Illinois and Nevada. In Asia, the Bank has four full-service branches in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Shantou and Shenzhen; five representative offices in Beijing, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Xiamen and Singapore; and administrative support offices in Beijing and Shanghai.

We are committed to enhancing long-term stockholder value by growing loans, deposits and revenue, improving profitability, and investing for the future while managing risks, expenses and capital. Our business model is built on customer loyalty and engagement, understanding our customers’ financial goals, and meeting our customers’ financial needs through our diverse products and services. Our strategy focuses on seeking out and deepening client relationships that meet our risk/return parameters. This guides our decision-making across every aspect of our operations: the products and services we develop, the expertise we cultivate, and the infrastructure we build to help our customers conduct their businesses. We expect our relationship-focused business model to continue to generate organic growth from existing customers and to expand our targeted customer bases. We constantly invest in technology to improve the customer user experience, strengthen critical business infrastructure, and streamline core processes, while properly managing operating expenses. Our risk management activities are focused on ensuring that the Bank identifies and manages risks to sustain safety and soundness while maximizing profitability.

East West Bank has a commercial business operating license in China through its subsidiary, East West Bank (China) Limited, which makes it unique among U.S.-based regional banks. This license allows the Bank to open branches, make loans and collect deposits in the country. The Bank continues to develop its international banking presence in Asia with its network of overseas branches and representative offices. In addition to facilitating traditional letters of credit and trade financing to businesses, these representative offices allow the Bank to assist existing clients and develop new business relationships. Through its branches and offices, the Bank focuses on growing its cross-border client base between the U.S. and Asia, helping U.S.-based businesses expand in Asia, and assisting companies based in Asia pursue business opportunities in the U.S.

The Bank believes its customers benefit from the Bank’s understanding of the Asian market through its physical presence, corporate and organizational ties in Asia, as well as the Bank’s international banking products and services. The Bank believes this approach, combined with its senior management and Board of Directors’ ties to Asian business opportunities and Asian American communities, provides the Bank with a competitive advantage. The Bank utilizes its presence overseas to identify and build corporate relationships, which the Bank may leverage to create business opportunities in California and other U.S. markets.

As of December 31, 2023, East West Bank was the largest independent commercial bank headquartered in Southern California based on total assets. The Bank is the largest independent bank in the U.S. focused on the financial service needs of individuals and businesses that operate both in the U.S. and Asia, and has a strong focus on the Asian American community. Through its network of over 120 banking locations in the U.S. and Asia, the Bank provides a wide range of personal and commercial banking services to individuals and businesses. The Bank provides services to its customers in English and in over 10 other languages. In addition to offering traditional deposit products that include personal and business checking and savings accounts, money market, and time deposits, the Bank also offers foreign exchange, treasury management and wealth management services. The Bank’s lending activities include commercial and residential real estate lending, construction finance, commercial business lending, working capital lines of credit, trade finance, letters of credit, affordable housing lending, asset-based lending, asset-backed finance, project finance, equipment financing and loan syndication. The Bank also provides financing services to clients to facilitate their business transactions between the U.S. and Asia. Additionally, to support the business needs of its customers, the Bank offers hedging advisory and various derivative contracts such as interest rate, energy commodity and foreign exchange contracts.

The integration of digital with brick-and-mortar channels has been an area of investment for the Bank, for both commercial and consumer banking. Our strategic priorities include the use of technology to innovate and expand commercial payments, treasury management products and services, and consumer banking. We have developed mobile and online banking platforms, which are continually enhanced to enrich our customer user experience, and which offer a full suite of banking services tailored to our customers’ unique needs. In our view, the omnichannel banking service approach increases efficiency and deepens customer relationships.

The Bank operates in a highly competitive environment. The Company faces intense competition from domestic and foreign lending institutions, numerous other financial services providers and other entities, including as a result of emerging technologies. Competition is based on a number of factors including, among others, customer service and convenience, quality and range of products and services offered, reputation, fees, interest rates on loans and deposits and lending limits. Competition also varies based on the types of customers and locations served. The Company is a leader of banking market share in the Asian American community. The Company maintains a differentiated presence within selected markets by providing cross-border commercial banking expertise to customers between the U.S. and Asia.

While the Company believes it is well positioned within a highly competitive industry, the industry could become even more competitive as a result of legislative, regulatory, economic, and technological changes, as well as continuing consolidation.

As a company that delivers relationship-driven financial solutions to a diverse customer base, we believe the strength of our workforce is one of the most significant contributors to our success. Our key human capital objectives are to attract, develop and retain quality talent who embody our values and enable us to serve our customers. To achieve these objectives, our human resource programs have been designed based on our core values and the attributes we seek to foster, which include absolute integrity; customer orientation; creativity; respect and fairness; teamwork; expertise and professionalism; and selflessness. We use these core values to better service our customers and prepare our employees for leadership positions and to advance their careers. We are also committed to promoting diversity in employment and advancement, and recognizing our employees for their contributions and service to our bank.

As of December 31, 2023, we had 3,206 full-time equivalent employees, of which 229 were located in China, Hong Kong and Singapore. Nearly all of our workforce were full-time employees, predominantly located in our core markets of California, Texas and New York. The Company’s compensation and employee benefits expense was $509 million and $478 million, or 50% and 56% of total noninterest expense in 2023 and 2022, respectively. None of our employees are subject to a collective bargaining agreement.

Promoting diversity and inclusion in our workforce and executive leadership is critical to our continued growth and success, and is at the core of our guiding principles. Our commitment to this mission is reflected in the composition of our employees. In addition, we have adopted an Environmental and Social Policy Framework that governs our mission to support diversity, and formed an LGBTQ+ & Allies employee resource group in addition to our two existing employee resource groups that focus on cultural awareness and empowering women to pursue leadership development and opportunities. As of December 31, 2023, the composition of our workforce was as follows:

Talent Acquisition, Development, Promotion and Engagement

An experienced and well-qualified workforce is essential to delivering high quality and reliable banking services to our customers and to managing the Company in a safe and sound manner. We endeavor to attract, develop, and retain diverse, motivated talent as part of our ongoing commitment to building a stronger workforce to serve our customers and communities. As a result, we were able to continue our quality hiring efforts with over 500 external new hires in 2023.

The focus on leadership development and promoting from within is a critical part of our succession planning for key roles throughout the organization and fostering organizational stability. We recognize the importance of employee development and career growth in fostering retention of our employees, which is one of the Company's strategic objectives. In 2023, 18% of our employees advanced their careers within the Bank through over 550 internal promotions or new opportunities. We provide a variety of resources to help all employees grow in their current roles and build new skills for future advancement, including the encouragement of continuing education and providing benefits such as tuition reimbursement.

We celebrate our employees’ dedicated years of service to the Bank through our Milestone Anniversary Program, which offers rewards and recognition through gifts and events when our employees reach certain service milestones. As of December 31, 2023, approximately 300 of our employees have celebrated 20 years or more of service. In 2023, we commemorated our 50th anniversary. With our employees’ commitment, strength, expertise and contribution, we earned the “No. 1 Performing Bank” ranking in the $50 billion and above asset category in Bank Director’s 2023 RankingBanking study. We were also ranked among the top 5 in Fortune’s Best Workplaces for Women in 2023 and were named one of Newsweek’s 100 Most Loved Workplaces in 2022 and 2023. We were also recognized as one of five banks featured in ARTnews’ 75 Top Art World Professionals in 2023.

Our compensation and benefits program provides both short- and long-term awards, incentivizing performance, and aligning employee and stockholder interests. Employee compensation packages include a competitive base salary and, subject to Company and individual performance, may include an annual cash and stock incentive bonus. We are committed to fair and equitable compensation programs, and regularly assess the current business environment and labor markets to review our compensation and benefits program for pay equity. We sponsor a 401(k) plan for U.S. employees, provide a Company matching contribution, and maintain other defined contribution retirement plans. As of December 31, 2023, 98% of employees participated in our 401(k) plan.

We are committed to supporting our employees’ well-being by offering flexible and competitive benefits. We offer a hybrid schedule to promote flexibility and enhance productivity among our associates. Comprehensive health insurance coverage (medical, dental and vision) is offered to employees working at least 30 hours each week. We offer life insurance, disability insurance, parental leave, wellness and benefits programs designed to assist employees in maintaining a healthy work-life balance, paid time off such as vacation hours, and 10 days of annual sick time, which is more than the required allotment from any of the states in which we do business. We also offer an Employee Assistance Program, which aids benefits-eligible employees and their household members with personal and professional issues. We apply a consistent approach towards employee policies, opportunities, benefits, and protections to all employees regardless of their locations, except if there are contradictions between individual state laws.

Commitment to Community

We are committed to making positive and lasting impacts in our communities through our business activities and our volunteer and charitable efforts. We aim to enhance the quality of life in our communities by engaging in meaningful and effective programs that help increase homeownership, preserve affordable housing, promote wealth building, enable more inclusive access to banking services and help alleviate homelessness. We are a vital part of the communities in which we live and work, and we encourage our employees to engage with our local communities by leading or participating in events to foster community development.

The following table presents the Company’s executive officers’ names, ages, positions and offices, and business experience during the last five years as of February 28, 2024. There is no family relationship between any of the Company’s executive officers or directors. The Board of Directors of the Company appointed each of the executive officers.

East West and the Bank are subject to extensive and comprehensive regulations under U.S. federal and state laws. Regulation and supervision by the federal and state banking agencies are intended primarily for the protection of depositors, the Deposit Insurance Fund (“DIF”) administered by the FDIC, consumers, and the banking system as a whole, and not for the protection of our investors. As a bank holding company, East West is subject to primary regulation, supervision, and examination by the Federal Reserve under the BHC Act. The Bank is regulated, supervised, and examined by the Federal Reserve, the DFPI, and, with respect to consumer laws, the CFPB. As the insurer of the Bank’s deposits, the FDIC has back-up examination authority of the Bank as well. In addition, the Bank and its wholly-owned subsidiary, East West Bank (China) Limited, are regulated by foreign regulatory agencies in international jurisdictions where we have a presence, including China, Hong Kong and Singapore. East West also has a wholly-owned nonbank subsidiary, East West Markets, LLC ("East West Markets"), which is an SEC-registered broker-dealer and a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. ("FINRA"). East West Markets is subject to regulatory requirements from several regulatory bodies, including the SEC, FINRA, and state securities regulators.

The Company is also subject to the disclosure and regulatory requirements under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), and the rules and regulations adopted by the SEC thereunder. Our common stock is listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the trading symbol “EWBC” and subject to Nasdaq rules for listed companies.

Described below are certain provisions of selected statutes and regulations applicable to East West and the Bank. The descriptions are not intended to be complete, nor are they meant to fully address the statutes and regulations’ effects and potential effects on East West and the Bank, and the descriptions are qualified in their entirety by reference to the full text of the statutes and regulations. A change in applicable statutes, regulations or regulatory policies may have a material effect on the Company’s business.

As a bank holding company and pursuant to its election of financial holding company status, East West is subject to regulation, supervision, and examination by the Federal Reserve under the BHC Act. The BHC Act provides a federal framework for the regulation and supervision of bank holding companies and their nonbank subsidiaries. The BHC Act and other federal statutes grant the Federal Reserve authority to, among other things:

East West Bank is a California state-chartered bank and a member of the Federal Reserve System, and its deposits are insured by the FDIC. The Bank’s operations in the U.S. are primarily regulated and supervised by the Federal Reserve and the DFPI, and its activities outside the U.S. are regulated and supervised by its U.S. regulators and the applicable regulatory authority in the host country in which each overseas office is located. Specific federal and state laws and regulations that are applicable to banks monitor, among other things, their regulatory capital levels, the scope of their business, their investments, their reserves against deposits, the timing of the availability of deposited funds, and the nature and amount of collateral for certain loans. Bank regulatory agencies also have extensive discretion to impose various restrictions on management or operations and to issue policies and guidance in connection with their supervisory and enforcement activities and examination policies. California law permits state-chartered commercial banks to engage in any activity permissible for national banks, unless such activity is expressly prohibited by state law. The Bank may also form subsidiaries to engage in many activities commonly conducted by national banks in operating subsidiaries. Further, pursuant to the GLBA, the Bank may conduct certain “financial” activities in a subsidiary to the same extent permitted for a national bank, provided the Bank is “well capitalized” and “well managed” and has a CRA rating of at least “Satisfactory.”

The Bank’s foreign subsidiary, East West Bank (China) Limited, is subject to applicable foreign laws and regulations, such as those implemented by the PBOC and the NAFR. East West Bank’s Hong Kong branch is subject to applicable foreign laws and regulations, such as those implemented by the HKMA and the HKSFC. The Bank’s Singapore representative office is subject to applicable foreign laws and regulations, such as those implemented by the MAS.

The federal banking agencies have imposed capital adequacy requirements, known as the Basel III Capital Rules, intended to ensure that banking organizations maintain capital that is commensurate with the degree of risk associated with their operations. The Basel III Capital Rules define the components of regulatory capital, including Common Equity Tier 1 (“CET1”), Tier 1 and 2 capital, and set forth minimum capital adequacy ratios of capital to risk-weighted assets and total assets. The Basel III Capital Rules also prescribe a standardized approach for risk-weighting assets and include a number of risk-weighting categories that affect the denominator in banking institutions’ regulatory capital ratios.

From time to time, the regulatory agencies propose changes and amendments to, and issue interpretations of, risk-based capital requirements and related reporting instructions. Such proposals and interpretations could, if implemented in the future, affect our regulatory capital requirements and reported capital ratios.

On July 27, 2023, the federal banking agencies jointly released a proposed rule to implement the international capital standards issued by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision and known as “Basel III Endgame.” The Basel III Endgame proposal would revise the capital framework applicable to large banking organizations with $100 billion or more in total consolidated assets or with significant trading activity and, if finalized, would likely result in meaningfully increased capital requirements for those organizations. The Company has total consolidated assets of less than $100 billion and does not have significant trading activity, and therefore would not be subject to the Basel III Endgame requirements if they are finalized as proposed. However, by imposing additional costs on banking organizations with $100 billion or more in total consolidated assets, this rule proposal could reduce the benefits of growth beyond that size for a banking organization that has less than $100 billion in total consolidated assets, such as the Company.

The FDIA, as amended, requires federal banking agencies to take PCA with respect to insured depository institutions (“IDIs”) that do not meet minimum capital requirements. The FDIA includes the following five capital tiers: “well capitalized,” “adequately capitalized,” “undercapitalized,” “significantly undercapitalized” and “critically undercapitalized.” A depository institution’s capital tier will depend upon how its capital levels compare with various relevant capital measures and certain other factors, as established by regulations. The capital tiers in the PCA framework do not apply directly to bank holding companies (such as the Company). Under the federal banking agencies’ regulations implementing the PCA provisions of the FDIA, an IDI (such as the Bank) generally is classified in the following categories based on the capital measures indicated:

An institution may be downgraded to, or deemed to be in, a capital category that is lower than indicated by its capital ratios, if it is determined to be in an unsafe or unsound condition or if it receives an unsatisfactory examination rating with respect to certain matters. A bank’s capital category is determined solely for the purpose of applying PCA regulations and the capital category may not constitute an accurate representation of the bank’s overall financial condition or prospects for other purposes.

The FDIA generally prohibits a depository institution from making any capital distributions (including payment of any dividend) or paying any management fee to its parent holding company, if the depository institution would thereafter be “undercapitalized.” Undercapitalized institutions are subject to growth limitations and are required to submit capital restoration plans. If a depository institution fails to submit an acceptable plan, it is treated as if it is “significantly undercapitalized.” Significantly undercapitalized depository institutions may be subject to several requirements and restrictions, including orders to sell sufficient voting stock to become “adequately capitalized,” requirements to reduce total assets, cessation of receipt of deposits from correspondent banks and/or restrictions on interest rates paid on deposits. “Critically undercapitalized” institutions are subject to the appointment of a receiver or conservator. The FDIA also generally permits only “well capitalized” IDIs to accept brokered deposits, although an “adequately capitalized” institution may apply to the FDIC for a waiver of this restriction.

In May 2018, the enactment of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (“EGRRCPA”) amended certain provisions in the Dodd-Frank Act and other statutes administered by the Federal Reserve and other federal banking agencies. The EGRRCPA lifted the asset size threshold for many of the Dodd-Frank Act enhanced prudential standards that had previously applied to banks and bank holding companies with total consolidated assets between $50 billion and $100 billion, except for the requirement to maintain a risk committee. The EGRRCPA also raised the asset size threshold for required company-run stress testing at banks and bank holding companies from $10 billion to $250 billion. Additionally, based on authority provided in the EGRRCPA, the Federal Reserve raised the asset size threshold for required supervisory stress testing at bank holding companies from $50 billion to $100 billion. Although the Company and the Bank are not required to conduct company-run or supervisory stress tests, we continue to conduct annual capital and quarterly liquidity stress tests.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Supervision

The Dodd-Frank Act established the CFPB, which has the authority to implement, examine and enforce compliance with federal consumer financial laws that apply to banking institutions with total consolidated assets exceeding $10 billion (such as the Bank) and their affiliates. The CFPB focuses its supervisory, examination, and enforcement efforts on, among other things:

The statutes and regulations that the CFPB enforces mandate certain disclosure and other requirements, and regulate the manner in which financial institutions must deal with consumers when taking deposits, making loans, collecting payments on loans, and providing other services. The CFPB’s rulemaking, examination and enforcement authority has affected and will continue to impact financial institutions that provide consumer financial products and services, including the Company and the Bank. These regulatory activities may limit the types of financial services and products the Company may offer. Failure to comply with federal and state laws prohibiting unfair, abusive, or fraudulent business practices, untrue or misleading advertising and unfair competition, can subject the Bank to various penalties, including, but not limited to, enforcement actions, injunctions, fines or criminal penalties, punitive damages, restitution to consumers, and the loss of certain contractual rights or business opportunities and may also result in significant reputational harm.

The Bank is a member of the Federal Home Loan Bank (“FHLB”) of San Francisco. As an FHLB member, the Bank is required to own a certain amount of capital stock in the FHLB. The Bank may also access the FHLB for both short- and long-term secured credit.

The Federal Reserve requires all depository institutions to maintain reserves at specified levels against their transaction accounts either in the form of vault cash or an interest-bearing account at the Federal Reserve Bank, or a pass-through account as defined by the Federal Reserve. Effective March 26, 2020, the Federal Reserve reduced reserve requirement ratios to zero percent, eliminating the reserve requirement for all depository institutions, an action that provides liquidity in the banking system to support lending to households and businesses. The Bank is a member bank and stockholder of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco (“FRBSF”).

The principal source of liquidity of East West is dividends received from the Bank. The Bank is subject to various statutory and regulatory restrictions on its ability to pay dividends. In addition, the banking agencies may prohibit or limit the Bank from paying dividends, depending upon the Bank’s financial condition, if such payment is deemed to constitute an unsafe or unsound practice. Furthermore, under the federal PCA regime, the Federal Reserve or FDIC may prohibit a bank holding company from paying any dividends if the holding company’s bank subsidiary is classified as “significantly undercapitalized” or, in some circumstances, “undercapitalized.” It is the Federal Reserve’s policy that a bank holding company should generally pay dividends on common stock only if the company’s net income available to common stockholders over the past four quarters, net of distributions, would be sufficient to fully fund the dividends, and if the prospective rate of earnings retention appears consistent with the company’s capital needs, asset quality and overall financial condition. It is also the Federal Reserve’s policy that a bank holding company should not maintain dividend levels that undermine the company’s ability to be a financial source of strength to its banking subsidiaries. The Federal Reserve requires bank holding companies to continuously review their dividend policy in light of their organizations’ financial condition and in compliance with regulatory capital requirements, and has discouraged payment ratios that are at maximum allowable levels, unless both asset quality and capital are strong.

Pursuant to Sections 23A and 23B of the Federal Reserve Act, as implemented by the Federal Reserve’s Regulation W, banks are subject to restrictions that limit their ability to engage in transactions with their affiliates, including their parent bank holding companies. Regulation W limits the types, terms and amounts of these transactions and generally requires the transactions to be on an arm’s-length basis. In general, Regulation W requires that “covered transactions,” which include a bank’s extension of credit to or purchase of assets from an affiliate, be limited to 10% of the bank’s capital and surplus with respect to any one affiliate, and 20% of the bank’s capital and surplus with respect to the aggregate of all covered transactions with all affiliates. In addition, a bank generally may not extend credit to an affiliate unless the extension of credit is secured by specified amounts of collateral. The Dodd-Frank Act expanded the coverage and scope of the limitations on affiliate transactions, including by treating derivative transactions resulting in a bank’s credit exposure to an affiliate as covered transactions. In addition, the Volcker Rule under the Dodd-Frank Act establishes certain prohibitions, restrictions and requirements (known as “Super 23A” and “Super 23B”) on transactions between a covered fund and a banking entity that serves as an investment manager, investment adviser, organizer and offeror, or sponsor with respect to that covered fund, regardless of whether the banking entity has an ownership interest in the fund.

Federal law also limits a bank’s authority to extend credit to its directors, executive officers and principal stockholders, as well as to entities controlled by such persons (collectively, “insiders”). Among other things, extensions of credit to insiders are required to be made on terms that are substantially the same as, and follow credit underwriting procedures that are not less stringent than, those prevailing for comparable transactions with unaffiliated persons. The terms of such extensions of credit may not involve more than the normal risk of repayment or present other unfavorable features and may not exceed certain limitations on the amount of credit extended to such persons, individually and in the aggregate, which limits are based, in part, on the amount of the bank’s capital.

Community Reinvestment Act

Under the CRA, an IDI has a continuing and affirmative obligation to help serve the credit needs of its communities, including low- and moderate-income borrowers and neighborhoods. The Federal Reserve periodically evaluates a state member bank’s performance under applicable performance criteria and assign a rating of “outstanding,” “satisfactory,” “needs to improve” or “substantial noncompliance.” The Federal Reserve takes this performance into account when reviewing applications by banks and their parent companies to expand branches, relocate, add subsidiaries and affiliates, expand into new financial activities and merge with or acquire other financial institutions. Unsatisfactory CRA performance may result in the denial of such applications. Based on the most recent CRA examination as of March 8, 2021, the Bank was rated “outstanding”.

On October 24, 2023, the federal banking agencies issued a final rule revising their framework for evaluating banks’ records of community reinvestment under the CRA. Under the revised framework, banks with assets of at least $2 billion, such as the Bank, are considered large banks and their retail lending, retail services and products, community development financing, and community development services will be subject to periodic evaluation. Depending on a large bank’s geographic distribution of lending, the evaluation of retail lending may include assessment areas in which the bank extends loans but does not operate any deposit-taking facilities, in addition to assessment areas in which the bank has deposit taking facilities. The rule becomes effective April 1, 2024. Compliance with most provisions of the final rule will be required beginning January 1, 2026, and compliance with the remaining provisions will be required beginning January 1, 2027. The Company is evaluating the impact of the final rule.

FDIC Deposit Insurance Assessments

The FDIC insures the Bank’s customer deposits through the DIF up to $250,000 for each depositor, per FDIC-insured bank, for each account ownership category. The DIF is funded mainly through quarterly insurance assessments on insured banks based on their assessment base. The Dodd-Frank Act revised the FDIC’s fund management authority by establishing a minimum Designated Reserve Ratio of 1.35 percent of total estimated insured deposits and redefining the assessment base to be calculated as average consolidated total assets minus average tangible equity. The Bank’s DIF quarterly assessment is calculated by multiplying its assessment base by the applicable assessment rate. The assessment rate is calculated based on an institution’s risk profile, including capital adequacy, asset quality, management, earnings, liquidity and sensitivity to market risk ratings, certain financial measures to assess an institution’s ability to withstand asset related stress and funding related stress, and a measure of loss severity that estimates the relative magnitude of potential losses to the FDIC in the event of the Bank’s failure.

In October 2022, the FDIC adopted a final rule, applicable to all IDIs, to increase the initial base deposit insurance assessment rate schedules uniformly by two basis points (“bps”) to increase the likelihood that the DIF reserve ratio reaches the statutory minimum of 1.35 percent by the statutory deadline of September 30, 2028. The increase in rates took effect in the first quarterly assessment period of 2023.

In November 2023, the FDIC approved a final rule to implement a special deposit insurance assessment to recover losses to the DIF arising from the protection of uninsured depositors following the receiverships of failed institutions in the spring of 2023. Under the final rule, the assessment base for the special assessment is equal to an IDI’s estimated uninsured deposits, reported for the quarter ended December 31, 2022, minus the first $5 billion in estimated uninsured deposits. The FDIC will collect the special assessment over eight quarterly assessment periods starting with the first quarter of 2024, at a quarterly rate of 3.36 bps. The Company recognized the entire assessment expense of approximately $70 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. Depending on future adjustments to the DIF’s estimated loss, the FDIC has retained the ability to cease collection early, extend the special assessment collection period, or impose a one-time final shortfall assessment.

The FDIC may terminate a depository institution’s deposit insurance upon a finding that the institution’s financial condition is unsafe or unsound, that the institution has engaged in unsafe or unsound practices, or that the institution has violated any applicable rule, regulation, condition, or order imposed by the FDIC.

The Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”), Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT) Act of 2001 (“PATRIOT Act”), the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 and other federal laws and regulations impose obligations on U.S. financial institutions to implement and maintain a program reasonably designed to prevent, detect and report money laundering and the financing of terrorism, verify the identity of their customers, and comply with recordkeeping and other requirements. Regulatory agencies require that the Bank have an effective governance structure for the program that includes effective oversight by our Board of Directors and management. We regularly evaluate and continue to enhance our program to comply with the BSA, the PATRIOT Act and other anti-money laundering (“AML”) laws, regulations and initiatives. Failure of a financial institution to maintain and implement adequate BSA/AML programs, or to comply with all applicable laws or regulations, could have serious legal, compliance, operational, financial and reputational consequences for the institution.

Office of Foreign Assets Control Regulation

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) is responsible for helping to ensure that U.S. financial institutions do not engage in transactions with certain prohibited parties, as defined by various executive orders and Acts of Congress. Federal banking regulators also examine banks for compliance with regulations administered by the OFAC for economic sanctions against designated foreign countries, designated nationals, and others. OFAC publishes lists of persons and organizations suspected of aiding, harboring or engaging in terrorist acts, known as Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons. Generally, if a bank identifies a transaction or account relating to a person or entity on an OFAC list, it must freeze the account or block the transaction, file a suspicious activity report and notify the appropriate authorities. Failure to comply with these sanctions could have serious legal, compliance, operational, financial, and reputational consequences, and result in civil monetary penalties on the Company and the Bank.

Federal statutes and regulations, including the GLBA, require banking organizations to take certain actions to protect nonpublic consumer financial information. The Bank has a privacy policy that it must disclose to consumers annually. In some cases, the Bank must obtain a consumer’s consent before sharing information with an unaffiliated third party, and the Bank must allow a consumer to opt out of the Bank’s sharing of information with its affiliates for marketing and certain other purposes. These additional conditions affect the Bank’s information exchanges with credit reporting agencies. The Bank’s privacy practices and the effectiveness of its systems to protect consumer privacy are subjects covered in the Federal Reserve’s periodic compliance examinations.

Consumer data privacy and data protection are also the subject of state laws. For example, the Bank is subject to the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”). This statute grants consumers several rights, including the right to request disclosure of information collected about them and whether that information has been sold or shared with others, the right to request correction of information, the right to request deletion of personal information (subject to certain exceptions), and the right to opt out of the sale of their personal information. However, a consumer does not have these rights with respect to information that is collected, processed, sold, or disclosed pursuant to the GLBA or the California Financial Information Privacy Act. The CCPA was amended by the California Privacy Rights Act. A new agency, the California Privacy Protection Agency, was established to enforce California privacy law.

The privacy and data protection regime in China is in a period of change and there has been significant activity in the field of privacy and cybersecurity legislation in recent years. The Personal Information Protection Law (“PIPL”), the Cybersecurity Law and the Data Security Law form a regulatory framework for privacy and data protection in China. The PIPL establishes guiding principles on the protection of a Chinese citizen’s personal information and applies to entities operating in China, foreign organizations, and individuals processing personal information outside China. The Cybersecurity Law focuses on cybersecurity concerns and requires network operators to implement measures to safeguard the security of networks and systems. The Data Security Law complements the PIPL and Cybersecurity Law by addressing broader data security issues, emphasizing the protection of critical data infrastructure and promoting a risk-based approach to data security. New supporting guidelines and standards are expected as China's cybersecurity, data security, and personal information protection framework continues to evolve. All these changes have potential impact on the business and operations of our Bank and its subsidiary, East West Bank (China) Limited.

In recent years, the federal banking agencies have increased their focus on climate-related risks affecting the operations of banks, the communities they serve and the broader financial system. The agencies have begun to enhance their supervisory expectations regarding banks’ climate risk management practices, including by proposing guidance that would encourage banking organizations to, among other things: evaluate the potential impact of climate-related risks on the bank’s financial condition, operations and business objectives as part of its strategic planning process; account for the effects of climate change in stress testing scenarios and systemic risk assessments; revise expectations for credit portfolio concentrations based on climate-related factors; and prepare for the transition risks to the bank associated with the adjustment to a low-carbon economy and related changes in laws, regulations, governmental policies, technology, and consumer behavior and expectations.

In October 2023, the federal banking agencies released interagency guidance, “Principles for Climate-Related Financial Risk Management for Large Financial Institutions” (the “Principles”), which are intended to encourage banking organizations with $100 billion or more in assets to focus on key aspects of climate-related financial risk management. The Principles cover six areas: governance; policies, procedures, and limits; strategic planning; risk management; data, risk measurement, and reporting; and scenario analysis. The Principles also describe how large banking organizations should manage climate-related financial risks that can arise in risk categories such as credit, liquidity, and other financial risk, and operational, legal and compliance, and other nonfinancial risk. While the agencies’ efforts to-date, including the Principles, have focused on banking organizations with $100 billion or more in total assets, their supervisory expectations on climate risk management practices ultimately may apply to smaller banking organizations such as the Bank.

In addition, states such as California, are taking similar actions on climate-related financial risks. In October 2023, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Senate Bill 253, the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act (“CCDAA”) and Senate Bill 261, the Climate-Related Financial Risk Act (“CRFRA”). The CCDAA is applicable to U.S.-organized entities that do business in California with annual revenue in excess of $1 billion. Subject to the adoption of implementing regulations by the California Air Resources Board, these entities will need to file annual reports publicly disclosing their direct greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions from operations (“Scope 1 emissions”), indirect GHG emissions from energy use (“Scope 2 emissions”) and indirect upstream and downstream supply-chain GHG emissions (“Scope 3 emissions”). The reporting requirements related to Scope 1 and 2 emissions will begin in 2026, while the reporting requirements of Scope 3 emissions will begin in 2027. The CRFRA requires U.S.-organized entities that do business in California, with annual revenues over $500 million to prepare biennial reports disclosing climate-related financial risk and the measures they have adopted to reduce and adapt to that risk. The initial round of the climate risk disclosure reports will be due by January 1, 2026. The Company is a reporting entity under both laws and may incur compliance, maintenance and remediation costs to conform to such requirements.

Potential Regulatory Reforms

The federal banking agencies also jointly released a proposed rule on August 29, 2023 that would require bank holding companies and non-consolidated banks with total assets of $100 billion or more to issue and maintain minimum amounts of long-term debt. The Company has total consolidated assets of less than $100 billion and would not be subject to the long-term debt requirements if they are finalized as proposed. However, by imposing additional costs on bank holding companies with $100 billion or more in total consolidated assets, this rule proposal could reduce the benefits of growth beyond that size for a bank holding company that has less than $100 billion in total consolidated assets, such as the Company.

Future Legislation, Regulation and Supervision Activities

New statutes, regulations and policies that contain wide-ranging proposals for altering the structures, regulations and competitive relationships of financial institutions and public companies operating in the U.S. are regularly adopted. Such changes to applicable statutes, regulations, and policies may change the Company’s operating environment in substantial and unpredictable ways, increase the Company’s cost of conducting business, impede the efficiency of internal business processes, subject the Company to increased supervision activities and disclosure and reporting requirements, and restrict or expand the activities in which the Company may engage. Accordingly, such changes may have a significant influence on our operations and activities, financial condition, results of operations, growth plans or future prospects, and the overall growth and distribution of loans, investments and deposits. We cannot predict whether or in what form any statute, regulation or policy will be proposed or adopted or the extent to which our business may be affected by any new statute, regulation or policy.

We are exposed to a variety of risks, some of which are inherent to the financial services industry and others of which are more specific to our business. Our enterprise risk management (“ERM”) program incorporates risk management throughout the organization in identifying, managing, monitoring, and reporting risks. Our ERM program identifies the major risk categories in our business as: capital; market; liquidity; credit; operational; compliance; legal; strategic; technology; and reputational.

The discussion below addresses material factors, of which we are currently aware, that could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, and financial condition. These risk factors and other forward-looking statements included in this Form 10-K relate to future events, expectations, trends, and operating periods, and involve certain factors that are subject to change, and important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. These risks and uncertainties should not be considered a complete discussion of all the risks and uncertainties that we might face, but are intended to highlight risks that we believe are important factors to consider when evaluating our business and an investment in our securities. Although these risks are organized by headings and each risk is discussed separately, many are interrelated. In addition, there may be additional risks and uncertainties that adversely affect our business, results of operations, and financial condition that are not presently known, that are not currently believed to be significant, or that are common to all businesses.

Our business and results of operations are affected by the financial markets and general economic conditions globally, particularly in the U.S. and Asia, including factors such as the level and volatility of short- and long-term interest rates, inflation, deflation, residential and commercial property prices, collateral asset prices, unemployment and under-employment levels, rental rates and occupancy levels, market or supply chain disruption, labor shortages, bankruptcies, household income, consumer behavior, fluctuations in both debt and equity capital markets and currencies, liquidity of the global financial markets, the availability and cost of capital and credit, government spending and the federal debt ceiling, investor sentiment and confidence in the financial markets, and sustainability of economic growth in the U.S. and Asia. The deterioration of any of these conditions could adversely affect our consumer and commercial business, securities and derivatives portfolios, the level of charge-offs and provision for credit losses, the carrying value of deferred tax assets, capital levels, liquidity, and results of operations. In addition, because our operations and the collateral securing our real estate lending portfolio are primarily concentrated in California, we may be particularly susceptible to adverse economic conditions in California. Any unfavorable economic, market, political, or industry conditions in California and other regions where we operate could lead to the following outcomes, among others:

Economic trade and political tensions, including tariffs and other punitive trade policies and disputes, between the U.S. and China pose a risk to our business and customers. The imposition of tariffs, retaliatory tariffs, export controls or other trade restrictions on products and materials that our customers import or export could cause the prices of their products to increase, possibly reduce demand, and hence may negatively impact our customers’ margins and their ability to service debt. We may also experience a decrease in the demand for loans and other financial products or a deterioration in the credit quality of the loans extended to customers in industry sectors that are most sensitive to the trade restrictions.

A substantial number of our customers have economic and cultural ties to Asia. The Bank’s international presence includes locations in Hong Kong, China and Singapore. Our presence in Asia carries certain risks, including risks arising from the uncertainty regarding our ability to generate revenues from foreign operations and risks associated with leveraging and conducting business on an international basis. These risks include: legal, regulatory, and tax requirements and restrictions; tariffs, trade barriers, or other trade restrictions; uncertainties regarding liability; difficulties in staffing and managing foreign operations; political and economic risks, and financial risks including currency and payment risks. Further, a downturn in economic growth and real estate markets in China and volatility in the Shanghai and Hong Kong stock exchanges, among other things, may negatively impact asset values and the profitability and liquidity of our customers operating in this region. These risks could adversely affect the success of our international operations and could have a material adverse effect on our overall business, results of operations, and financial condition. In addition, we face risks that our employees and affiliates may fail to comply with applicable laws and regulations governing our international operations, including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, anti-corruption laws, and other U.S. and foreign laws and regulations. Failure to comply with such laws and regulations could, among other things, result in enforcement actions and fines against us, limitations on our conduct and reputational harm, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Natural disasters such as wildfires, earthquakes, extreme weather conditions, hurricanes, floods, droughts, widespread health emergencies or pandemics, and other acts of nature and geopolitical events involving political unrest, terrorism, or military conflicts could adversely affect our business operations and those of our customers and cause substantial damage and loss to real and personal property. Natural disasters and geopolitical events could impair borrowers’ ability to service their loans, decrease the level and duration of deposits by customers, erode the value of loan collateral, result in an increase in the amount of nonperforming assets, net charge-offs, and provision for credit losses, and otherwise cause a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.

Macroeconomic challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical events have been persistent and are difficult to predict, including supply-chain shortages, volatile energy prices, tightening monetary policy and inflation, and heightened cybersecurity risks. The extent of the continuing impact of these events on our business, results of operations and financial condition will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and difficult to predict.

Additionally, political unrest, wars and acts of terrorism have heightened geopolitical tensions, which continue to disrupt the global supply chain and increase economic uncertainty and inflationary pressures. Instability in global economic conditions and geopolitical matters could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.

Since many of our loans are secured by real estate, a decline in the real estate markets could impact our business and financial condition. Real estate values and real estate markets are generally affected by changes in general economic conditions and employment levels, fluctuations in interest rates, the availability of loans to potential purchasers and the availability and demand for types of real property investments, changes in tax laws and other governmental statutes, regulations and policies, and natural disasters, such as wildfires and earthquakes, which are particularly prevalent in California, where a significant portion of our real estate collateral is located. If real estate values decline, the value of real estate collateral securing our loans could be significantly reduced. Our ability to recover on defaulted loans by foreclosing and selling the real estate collateral would be further diminished, and we would be more likely to suffer losses on defaulted loans. Furthermore, commercial real estate (“CRE”) and multifamily residential loans typically involve larger balances to single borrowers or groups of related borrowers. Since payments on these loans are often dependent on the successful operation or management of the properties, as well as the business and financial condition of the borrowers, repayment of such loans may be subject to adverse conditions in the real estate market, adverse economic conditions, shifts in demand for different types of properties, or changes in applicable government regulations. Borrowers’ inability to repay such loans may have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Our financial results depend substantially on net interest income, which is the difference between the interest income we earn on interest-earning assets and the interest expense we pay on interest-bearing liabilities. Interest-earning assets primarily include loans extended, securities held in our investment portfolio, and excess cash held to manage short-term liquidity. We fund our assets using deposits and borrowings. We offer interest-bearing deposit products, and a portion of our deposit balances are from noninterest-bearing products. We also enter into interest rate derivatives to manage interest rate risk exposure. The interest rates we receive on our interest-earning assets and pay on our interest-bearing liabilities could be affected by various factors, including macroeconomic challenges, Federal Reserve policies, market interest rate changes in response to inflation, competition, regulatory requirements or a change in our product mix. Changes in key variable market interest rates, such as the federal funds, national prime, or U.S. Treasury rates generally impact our interest rate spread. Because of the differences in maturities and repricing characteristics of our interest-earning assets and interest-bearing liabilities, changes in interest rates do not produce equivalent changes in interest income earned on interest-earning assets and interest expense paid on interest-bearing liabilities. Rising interest rates may cause our funding costs to increase at a faster pace than the yield we earn from our assets, ultimately causing our net interest margin to decrease. Higher interest rates may also result in lower loan production and increased charge-offs in certain segments of the loan portfolio. Declining interest rates could lead to higher loan refinancing activity, which, in turn, would increase the likelihood of prepayments of loans and mortgage related securities. Changes in interest rates also impact the value of our investments in debt securities, particularly debt securities with longer maturities. Accordingly, changes in levels of interest rates could materially and adversely affect our net interest income, net interest margin, cost of deposits, loan origination volume, average loan portfolio balance, asset quality, liquidity, and overall profitability.

Inflation risk is the risk that the value of assets or income from investments will be worth less in the future as inflation decreases the value of money. In 2023 inflation persisted and was slow to decrease despite multiple increases to the federal funds rate by the Federal Reserve. As inflation increases and interest rates rise, the value of our investment securities, particularly those with longer maturities, decreases, although this effect is less pronounced for floating rate instruments. Prolonged periods of inflation also may impact our profitability by negatively impacting our costs and expenses, including increasing funding costs and expense related to talent acquisition and retention, and negatively impacting the demand for our products and services. Moreover, our customers are also affected by inflation and the rising costs of goods and services used in their households and businesses, which could have a negative impact on their ability to repay their loans. Further adverse changes in inflation and interest rates could negatively impact consumer and business confidence, and adversely affect the economy as well as our business, results of operations and financial condition.

The Federal Reserve Board regulates the supply of money and credit in the U.S. Its policies determine in large part the cost of funds for lending and investing and affect the return earned on those loans and investments, both of which in turn affect our net interest margin. They can also materially decrease the value of financial assets we hold. Federal Reserve policies may also adversely affect borrowers, potentially increasing the risk that they may fail to repay their loans, or could adversely create asset bubbles resulting from prolonged periods of accommodative policy. This, in turn, may result in volatile markets and rapidly declining collateral values. Changes in Federal Reserve policies are beyond our control. Consequently, the impact of these changes on our business and results of operations is difficult to predict.

Over the past few years, U.S. debt ceiling and budget deficit concerns have increased the possibility of additional credit rating downgrades and economic slowdowns, or a recession in the U.S. Although U.S. lawmakers passed legislation to raise the federal debt ceiling in 2023, there is risk of continuing political disagreement over the federal debt limit and budget. In August 2023, Fitch Ratings Inc. downgraded the long-term sovereign credit rating of the U.S. to “AA+” from “AAA” and in November 2023 Moody’s Investor Service changed its outlook on U.S. credit to negative. The impact of this or any further downgrades to the U.S. government’s sovereign credit rating or its perceived creditworthiness could adversely affect the U.S. and global financial markets and economic conditions. In addition, disagreement over the federal budget may cause a full or partial U.S. federal government shutdown. Continued adverse political and economic conditions could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operation and financial condition.

Our foreign currency translation exposure derives, in part, from our China subsidiary that has its functional currency denominated in Chinese Renminbi (“RMB”). In addition, as we continue to expand our cross-border business, we have a higher volume of customer transactions in foreign currencies. We have entered into derivative instruments to offset some of the impact of foreign exchange fluctuations. However, given the volatility of exchange rates, there is no assurance that we will be able to effectively manage foreign currency translation risk. Fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates could have a material unfavorable impact on our net income, therefore adversely affecting our business, results of operations, and financial condition.

East West is dependent on the Bank for dividends, distributions, and other payments. Our principal source of cash flows, including cash flows to pay dividends to our stockholders and principal and interest on our outstanding debt, is dividends received from the Bank. However, federal and California law limit the Bank’s ability to pay dividends to East West. Subject to the Bank meeting or exceeding regulatory capital requirements, regulatory approval is required under federal law if the total of all dividends declared by the Bank in any calendar year would exceed the sum of the Bank’s net income for that year and its retained earnings for the preceding two years. Although we have historically declared cash dividends on our common stock, we are not required to do so and there may be circumstances under which we would reduce or eliminate our common stock dividend in the future. This could adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

Market conditions or other events could negatively affect the level of or cost of funding, which in turn could affect our ongoing ability to accommodate liability maturities and deposit withdrawals, meet contractual obligations, or fund asset growth and new business initiatives at a reasonable cost, in a timely manner and without adverse consequences. Although we have implemented strategies to maintain sufficient and diverse sources of funding to accommodate planned, as well as unanticipated changes in assets, liabilities, and off-balance sheet commitments under various economic conditions, a substantial, unexpected or prolonged change in the level or cost of liquidity could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, and financial condition. If the cost effectiveness or the availability of supply in the credit markets is reduced for a prolonged period of time, our funding needs may require us to access funding and manage liquidity by other means. These alternatives may include generating client deposits, securitizing or selling loans, and further managing loan growth and investment opportunities. These alternative means of funding may not be available under stressed market conditions or realized in a timely fashion.

Credit rating agencies evaluate us regularly, and their ratings are based on several factors, including our financial strength, capital adequacy, liquidity, asset quality and ability to generate earnings. Some of these factors are not entirely within our control, including conditions affecting the financial services industry as a whole. Several banks were subject to a credit rating downgrade during 2023 following the failures of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, and First Republic Bank, and in response to economic conditions, and others have been placed on a negative credit outlook by the rating agencies. Severe downgrades in our credit ratings could impact our business and reduce our profitability in different ways, including a reduction in our access to capital markets, triggering additional collateral or funding obligations which could negatively affect our liquidity. In addition, our counterparties, as well as our clients, rely on our financial strength and stability and evaluate the risks of doing business with us on a regular basis. If we experience a decline in our credit ratings, this could result in a decrease in the number of counterparties and clients who may be willing to transact with us. Our borrowing costs may also be affected by various external factors, including market volatility and concerns or perceptions about the financial services industry. There can be no assurance that we can maintain our credit ratings nor that they will not be changed in the future.

A significant factor in the bank failures in early 2023 appears to have been the proportion of the deposits held by each institution that exceeded applicable FDIC insurance limits, and the withdrawal of such deposits over a short period of time. The ease and speed of the electronic withdrawals may accelerate this process. If a significant portion of our deposits were to be withdrawn within a short period of time such that additional sources of funding would be required to meet withdrawal demands, we may be unable to obtain funding at favorable terms, which may have an adverse effect on our net interest margin. Moreover, obtaining adequate funding to meet our deposit obligations may be more challenging during periods of elevated interest rates and financial industry instability. Our ability to attract depositors during a time of actual or perceived distress or instability in the marketplace may be limited. Further, interest rates paid for borrowing generally exceed the interest rates paid on deposits. This spread may be exacerbated by higher prevailing interest rates. In addition, because our available-for-sale (“AFS”) debt securities lose value when interest rates rise, our ability to cover liquidity needs from sale or pledging of these securities may be negatively impacted during periods of elevated interest rates. Under these circumstances, we may be required to access additional funding from other sources in order to manage our liquidity risk.

Our credit risk and credit losses can increase if our loans are concentrated in borrowers engaged in the same or similar activities, industries, or geographies or to borrowers who as a group may be uniquely or disproportionately affected by economic or market conditions, which could result in materially higher credit losses. For example, the Bank has a concentration of real estate loans in California. Potential deterioration in the California commercial or residential real estate markets or economic conditions could result in additional loan charge-offs and provision for loan losses, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, and financial condition. If any industry or market sector were to experience economic difficulties, loan collectability from customers operating in those industries or sectors may deteriorate, which could have a material adverse impact on our business, results of operations, and financial condition.

We face risks of loss resulting from, but not limited to, errors relating to transaction processing and technology, breaches of the internal control system and compliance requirement, the risk of fraud by employees or third parties, the execution of unauthorized transactions by employees, cybersecurity incidents, business continuation and disaster recovery. In the event of such operational failures, we could suffer financial loss, face regulatory action, and suffer damage to our reputation.

The potential for operational loss exposure exists throughout our organization and among our interactions with third parties. Our operational, security systems, and infrastructure, as well as those of third-party vendors, are integral to our performance. We have taken measures to implement backup systems and safeguards to support our operations, but our ability to conduct business may be adversely affected by any significant disruptions to us or our vendors. Such disruptions could be caused by a number of factors including events that are wholly or partially beyond our control which could adversely affect our ability to process transactions or provide certain services. These factors include, and are not limited to, electrical, telecommunications, or other major physical infrastructure outages, cybersecurity incidents, disease pandemics, natural disasters such as wildfires, earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes and floods, and events arising from local or larger scale political or social matters, including terrorist acts. Furthermore, we frequently update these systems to support our operations and growth, requiring significant costs and creating risks associated with implementing new systems and integrating them with existing ones.

Third parties that facilitate our business activities could also be sources of operational and security risks to us. Our ability to implement backup systems or other safeguards with respect to third-party systems is limited. Furthermore, an attack on or failure of a third-party system may not be revealed to us in a timely manner, which could compromise our ability to respond effectively. Some of these third parties may engage vendors of their own, which introduces the risk that these “fourth parties” could be the source of operational and security failures. In addition, if a third party or fourth party obtains access to the customer account data on our systems, and that party experiences a breach or misappropriates such data, we and our customers could suffer material harm, including heightened risk of fraudulent transactions, losses from fraudulent transactions, increased operational costs to remediate any security breach, and reputational harm.

Our business and many of our customers may have experienced, and may experience again in the future, losses incurred due to fraud or theft related to customers, employees, or third parties. These losses may negatively affect our business, results of operations, financial condition, reputation or prospects. Furthermore, increased use of the internet and telecommunications technologies (including mobile devices) to conduct financial and other business transactions and operations, coupled with the increased sophistication and activities of threat actors, will subject us to increased security risks.

These operational risk exposures, if realized, could adversely impact our results of operations, financial condition, cash flows, and liquidity, and may result in loss of confidence, significant litigation exposure and harm to our reputation. These risks are expected to continue to increase as we expand our interconnectivity with our customers and other third parties.

Our business is highly dependent on the security and efficacy of our infrastructure, computer and data management systems, as well as those of third parties with which we interact. Cyber security risks, including ransomware and malware attacks, for financial institutions have significantly increased in recent years in part because of the proliferation of new technologies, the use of the internet and telecommunication technologies to conduct financial transactions, the significant increased use of remote workstations by employees in recent years, and the increased sophistication and activities of organized crime, hackers, terrorists, nation-states, and other threat actors. Our business relies on the secure processing, transmission, storage and retrieval of confidential, proprietary, and other information in our computer email and data management systems and networks, including those of our third-party vendors. We employ a combination of preventative and detective controls to safeguard against cybersecurity incidents. To date, we have not experienced any known cybersecurity incidents resulting in a material impact on our business, financial condition, or operating results. However, we can provide no assurance that all of our security measures will be effective. The industry has seen an increase in ransomware attacks, data breaches, social engineering, phishing attacks, and fraud and other scams that have placed the Bank, employees, our customers, and third-party vendors at heightened risk levels. These risks may increase in the future as we continue to increase our digital product offerings and expand our internal usage of cloud-based products and applications. In addition, our customers often use their own devices to make payments and manage their accounts, and are subject to cyberattacks including data breaches, social engineering, phishing attacks, fraud and other scams, that threaten the safety and security of their banking transactions with us. We have limited ability to assure the safety and security of our customers’ transactions with us to the extent they are using their own devices or are a victim of cyberattacks, fraud or other scams by threat actors.

Failure to mitigate breaches of security, or to comply with frequent imposition of increasingly demanding new and changing industry standards and regulatory requirements, could result in violation of applicable privacy laws, reputational damage, regulatory fines, litigation exposure, increased security compliance costs, adversely affect our ability to offer and grow the online services, and could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

The financial services industry is continuously undergoing rapid technological change with frequent introductions of new technology-driven products and services, including financial technology and non-banking entities. The effective use of technology increases efficiency and enables financial institutions to better serve customers and to reduce costs. Our future success depends, in part, upon our ability to address the needs of our customers by using technology to provide products and services that will satisfy customer demands, as well as to create additional efficiencies in our operations. Many of our competitors have substantially greater resources to invest in technological solutions. We may not be able to effectively implement new technology-driven products and services or be successful in marketing these products and services to our customers. Failure to successfully keep pace with technological change affecting the financial services industry could have a material adverse impact on our business and, in turn, our results of operations and financial condition. In addition, if we do not implement systems effectively or if our outsourcing business partners do not perform their functions properly, there could be an adverse effect on us. There can be no assurance that we will be able to effectively maintain or improve our systems and processes, or utilize outsourced talent, to meet our business needs successfully. Any such failure could adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and reputation.

We are subject to complex and evolving laws and regulations, both inside and outside the U.S., governing the privacy and protection of personal information. Individuals whose personal information may be protected by law can include our customers (and in some cases our customers’ customers), prospective customers, job applicants, employees, and the employees of our suppliers, and third parties. Complying with laws and regulations applicable to our collection, use, transfer, and storage of personal information can increase operating costs, impact the development and marketing of new products or services, and reduce operational efficiency. Any mishandling or misuse of personal information by us or a third party affiliated with us could expose us to litigation or regulatory fines, penalties or other sanctions.

Financial services institutions are interrelated as a result of trading, clearing, counterparty, or other relationships. We execute transactions with various counterparties in the financial industry, including broker-dealers, commercial banks, and investment banks. Defaults or failures of financial services institutions and instability in the financial services industry in general can lead to market-wide liquidity problems, increased credit risk and withdrawals of uninsured deposits. The failures of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, and First Republic Bank in 2023 resulted in significant disruption in the financial services industry and negative media attention, which has also adversely impacted the volatility and market prices of the securities of financial institutions and resulted in outflows of deposits for us and many other financial institutions. These events have adversely impacted and could continue to adversely affect our business, results of operations, and financial condition, as well as the market price and volatility of our common stock.

Bank failures may increase the risk of a recession or lead to regulatory changes and initiatives, such as enhanced capital, liquidity, or risk management requirements, that could adversely impact the Company. Changes to laws or regulations, or the impositions of additional restrictions through supervisory or enforcement activities, could have a material impact on our business. Regulatory changes could also adversely impact our ability to access funding, increase the cost of funding, limit our access to capital markets, and negatively impact our overall financial condition. The recent bank failures also have resulted in a special assessment by the FDIC to replenish the DIF.

Management regularly reviews and updates our internal controls, disclosure controls and procedures, and corporate governance and ERM policies and procedures. Any system of controls, however well designed and operated, is based in part on certain assumptions and can provide only reasonable, but not absolute, assurances of the effectiveness of these systems and controls, and that the objectives of these controls have been met. Any failure or circumvention of our controls and procedures, and any failure to comply with regulations or supervisory expectations related to controls and procedures could adversely affect our business, results of operations, and financial condition.

We have established processes and procedures intended to identify, measure, monitor, report, and analyze the types of risk to which we are subject, including capital, market, liquidity, credit, operational, compliance, legal, strategic, technology and reputational risks. Although we seek to manage our exposure to such risks, and employ a broad and diverse set of risk monitoring and mitigation techniques in the process, those techniques are inherently limited because they cannot anticipate the existence or development of risks that are currently unknown or unanticipated. Further, any system of control and any system to reduce risk exposure, however well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the system are met. Further, in some cases we use analytical or forecasting models in our management of risks. If the models are inadequate, or are subject to ineffective governance, our risk management program may also prove ineffective. Actions taken to mitigate identified risks may prove less effective than anticipated. If our risk management program proves ineffective, we could suffer unexpected losses and reputational damage.

Competition for qualified personnel in the banking industry is intense and there are a limited number of qualified persons with knowledge of, and experience in, the regional banking industry, especially in the West Coast markets, and in international banking operations, especially in Asia. The process of recruiting personnel with the combination of skills and attributes required to carry out our strategies is often lengthy. Our success depends, to a significant degree, on our ability to attract and retain qualified management, loan origination, finance, administrative, marketing, and technical personnel, as well as the continued contributions of those individuals. In particular, our success has been and continues to be highly dependent upon the abilities of certain key executives. Accordingly, we believe that our future success is dependent upon the development and, when needed, implementation of adequate succession plans. Although both the Board of Directors and management monitor our succession planning for our senior management team, unexpected departures of key personnel or disruptions in future leadership transitions could negatively impact our business and prospects.

We operate in a highly competitive environment. Our competitors include, but are not limited to, commercial banks, savings and loan associations, finance companies, brokerage firms, insurance companies, credit unions, mortgage banks, nonbank financial institutions, and other regional, national, and global financial institutions. Some of our major competitors include multinational financial service companies whose greater resources may afford them a marketplace advantage by enabling them to maintain numerous locations and mount extensive promotional and advertising campaigns. Areas of competition include interest rates on loans and deposits, customer services, and range of price and quality of products and services, including new technology-driven products and services. Ongoing or increased competition may put pressure on the pricing for our products and services or may cause us to lose market share, particularly with respect to traditional banking products such as loans and deposits. Failure to attract and retain banking customers may adversely impact our loan and deposit growth and in turn, our revenues.

There are risks associated with expanding through acquisitions. These risks include, among others, incorrectly assessing the asset quality of a bank acquired in a particular transaction, incurring greater than anticipated costs in integrating acquired business, failing to retain customers or employees, and the inability to profitably deploy assets acquired or realize synergies from a transaction. Additional country or region-specific risks are associated with transactions outside the U.S., including in China. To the extent we issue capital stock in connection with additional transactions, these transactions and related stock issuances may have a dilutive effect on earnings per share (“EPS”) and share ownership.

From time to time, we may seek to implement new business arrangements or new lines of business or offer new products and services within existing lines of business. There are substantial risks and uncertainties associated with these efforts, particularly in instances where the markets are not fully developed. In developing and marketing new business arrangements, lines of business and/or new products and services, we may invest significant time and resources. Initial timetables for the introduction and development of new business initiatives, new lines of business and/or new products or services may not be achieved, and price and profitability targets may not prove feasible, which could in turn have a material negative effect on our operating results. New business arrangements, new lines of business and/or new products or services also could subject us to additional regulatory requirements, increased scrutiny by our regulators and other legal risks. For example, we and other regional banks are increasingly partnering with fintech and other providers to distribute or market our products and services. Bank regulators have, and may in the future, hold banks responsible for the activities of these fintech companies, including in respect of BSA/AML and consumer compliance matters, or may take the view that these relationships present safety and soundness issues.

We invest in certain tax-advantaged investments that support qualified affordable housing projects, community development, and renewable energy resources. Our investments in these projects are designed to generate a return in part through the realization of federal and state income tax credits, and other tax benefits, over specified time periods. We are subject to the risk that previously recorded tax credits, which remain subject to recapture by taxing authorities based on compliance features required to be met at the project level, may fail to meet certain government compliance requirements and may not be able to be realized. The risk of not being able to realize, or of subsequently incurring a recapture of, the tax credits and other tax benefits depends on various factors, some of which are outside of our control, including changes in the applicable tax code, as well as the continued economic viability of the project and project operator. The possible inability to realize these tax credits and other tax benefits would have a negative impact on our financial results.

We are subject to extensive regulation under federal and state laws, as well as supervision and examination by the DFPI, FDIC, Federal Reserve, SEC, CFPB in the U.S. and foreign regulators and other government authorities. We are also subject to enforcement oversight by the U.S. Department of Justice and state attorneys general. In addition, we face certain legal, reputational, and financial risks as a result of serving customers in new or evolving industries that are subject to changing, and at times conflicting laws. Changes to statutes, regulations or regulatory policies, including changes in interpretation or implementation of statutes, regulations, or policies could affect the manner in which we conduct business. Such changes could also subject us to additional costs and may limit the types of financial services and products we offer, and the investments we make.

Given that banks operate in an extensively regulated environment under federal and state law, good standing with our regulators is of fundamental importance to the continuation and growth of our business. In the performance of their supervisory and enforcement duties, the U.S. federal and state regulators, and non-U.S. regulators, have significant discretion and power to initiate enforcement actions for violations of laws and regulations, and unsafe and unsound practices. Further, regulators and bank supervisors continue to exercise qualitative supervision of our industry and specific business operations and related matters. Violations of laws and regulations or deemed deficiencies in risk management or other qualitative practices also may be incorporated into our confidential bank supervisory ratings. A downgrade in these ratings, or other regulatory settlements, enforcement actions or supervisory criticisms, could impose additional risk management and other regulatory oversight requirements, limit our ability to pursue acquisitions or conduct other expansionary activities, require new or additional regulatory approvals before engaging in certain other business activities, and result in civil monetary penalties, other sanctions, and damage to our reputation, all of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and future prospects.

From time to time, the U.S. government may introduce new fiscal policies and tax laws or make substantial changes to existing tax legislation. These changes could have a material impact on our business and our customers’ business, results of operations, and financial condition. Our positions or our actions taken prior to such changes may be compromised by such changes. In addition, our actions taken in response to, or in reliance upon, such changes in the tax laws may impact our tax position in a manner that may result in an adverse financial condition. We also provide for current and deferred taxes in our financial statements, based on our results of operations and financial condition. We may take tax return filing positions for which the final determination of tax is uncertain, and our income tax expense could be increased if a federal, state, or local authority were to assess additional taxes that have not been provided for in our consolidated financial statements. There can be no assurance that we will achieve our anticipated effective tax rate. The U.S. government could further introduce new tax legislation or amend current tax laws in a manner that would adversely affect us. In addition, continued political disagreements over the federal budget and the risk of a full or partial government shutdown could create uncertainty about the U.S. economy, ultimately having an adverse effect on our business, results of operations, and financial condition.

The BSA, the PATRIOT Act, and other laws and regulations require us and other financial institutions to institute and maintain an effective AML program and file suspicious activity reports and currency transaction reports when appropriate. We may provide banking services to customers considered to be higher risk customers, which subjects us to greater enforcement risk under the BSA and requires us to ensure our third-party vendors adhere to the BSA and related regulations. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network may impose significant civil monetary penalties for violations of those requirements and has been engaging in coordinated enforcement efforts with the federal and state banking regulators, as well as the U.S. Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Internal Revenue Service.

We are also required to comply with the U.S. economic and trade sanctions administered by the OFAC regarding, among other things, the prohibition of transacting business with, and the need to freeze assets of, certain persons and organizations identified as a threat to the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the U.S. A violation of any AML or OFAC-related law or regulation could subject us to significant civil and criminal penalties as well as regulatory enforcement actions, which may include restrictions on our ability to pay dividends and the necessity to obtain regulatory approvals to proceed with certain aspects of our business plan, including any acquisition plans. Any of these violations could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition, reputation, and future prospects.

We operate in a heavily regulated industry and face significant risk from lawsuits and proceedings brought by customers, borrowers, bank regulators and counterparties. These actions include claims for monetary damages, penalties, fines, and demands for injunctive relief. If these lawsuits or proceedings, whether founded or unfounded, are not resolved in a favorable manner to us, they could lead to significant financial obligations for us, as well as restrictions or changes to how we conduct our business. Although we establish accruals for legal matters when and as required by U.S. GAAP and certain expenses and liabilities in connection with such matters may or may not be covered by insurance, the amount of loss ultimately incurred in relation to those matters may be substantially higher than the amounts accrued and/or insured. As a participant in the financial services industry, we expect to continue to incur significant risks arising from litigation and government scrutiny related to our businesses and operations. Substantial legal liability and government scrutiny could adversely affect our business, results of operations, and financial condition. In addition, we may suffer significant reputational harm as a result of lawsuits and proceedings, adversely impacting our ability to attract and retain customers and investors. Moreover, it may be difficult to predict the outcome of certain legal proceedings, which may present additional uncertainty to our business prospects.

The preparation of our financial statements is based on accounting standards established by the FASB and the SEC. From time to time, these accounting standards may change, and such changes may have a material impact on our financial statements. In addition, the FASB, SEC, banking regulators, and our independent registered public accounting firm may amend or reverse their previous interpretations or positions on how various standards should be applied. These changes may be difficult to predict and could impact how we prepare and report our financial statements. In some cases, we could be required to adopt a new or revised standard retrospectively, potentially resulting in restatements to a prior period’s financial statements.

We test goodwill for impairment on an annual basis, or more frequently, if necessary. A significant decline in our expected future cash flows, a material change in interest rates, a significant adverse change in the business climate, slower growth rates, or a significant or sustained decline in the price of our common stock may necessitate taking future charges related to the impairment of goodwill. If we determine that a future write-down of goodwill is necessary, the amount of such an impairment charge could be significant and could adversely affect earnings as well as capital.

Provisions of Delaware and California law and of our certificate of incorporation, as amended, and bylaws, as amended and restated, could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire control of us or could have the effect of discouraging a third party from attempting to acquire control of us. For example, our certificate of incorporation, as amended, requires the approval of the holders of at least two-thirds of the outstanding shares of voting stock to approve certain business combinations. We are also subject to Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, which would make it more difficult for another party to acquire us without the approval of the Board of Directors. Additionally, our certificate of incorporation, as amended, authorizes the Board of Directors to issue preferred stock which could be issued as a defensive measure in response to a takeover proposal.

Additionally, prior approval of the Federal Reserve and the DFPI is required for any person to acquire control of us, and control for these purposes may be presumed to exist when a person owns 10% or more of our outstanding common stock. Federal Reserve approval is also required for a bank holding company to acquire more than 5% of our outstanding common stock. These and other provisions could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us, even if an acquisition might be in the best interest of the stockholders.

Threats to our reputation can come from many sources, including unethical practices, employee misconduct, failure to deliver minimum standards of service or quality, compliance deficiencies, and questionable or fraudulent activities of our customers or other threat actors. We have policies and procedures, including our Code of Conduct, in place to govern the personal conduct, action and work relationship of our employees with customers, fellow employees, competitors, governmental officials, and suppliers under both official and unofficial situations, in which employees may reasonably be perceived by others as acting as representatives of us. In addition, employees who fail to comply with the Code of Conduct may be subject to disciplinary action, termination of employment, and/or prosecution. However, these policies and procedures may not be fully effective. Negative publicity regarding our business, employees or customers, with or without merit, may result in the loss of customers, investors and employees, costly litigation, a decline in revenues and increased governmental scrutiny.

The price of our common stock may fluctuate in response to various factors, some of which are outside our control. These factors include the risk factors discussed herein, as well as:

Industry factors, general economic and political conditions and events, such as cyber or terrorist attacks, economic downturn or recessions, interest rate changes, credit default trends, currency fluctuations, changes to fiscal, monetary or trade policies, or public health issues could also cause our stock price to decline regardless of our operating results. A significant decline in our stock price could result in substantial losses for stockholders.

None.

The Company maintains an Information Security Program to support the management of cybersecurity risk as an integral component of the Company’s ERM framework. The Information Security Program encompasses the Company’s cybersecurity policies and practices, which focus on prevention, detection, mitigation and recovery from cybersecurity incidents. In addition, as part of the Information Security Program, the Company has a Security Incident Response Policy and Plan to enable a coordinated response to protect the integrity, security and resiliency of the Company’s information systems, to mitigate the risk of cybersecurity incidents and to escalate information regarding certain cybersecurity incidents to the appropriate management personnel and Board members in a timely fashion. The Information Security Program follows established industry frameworks, including the National Institute of Standards and Technology Cybersecurity Framework, and standards set by the relevant legal and regulatory authorities.

The Board’s Risk Oversight Committee has primary oversight responsibility for management’s efforts to mitigate cybersecurity risk and respond to cybersecurity incidents. The Risk Oversight Committee receives quarterly cybersecurity reports, including any reportable incidents, and reviews and approves the Information Security Program at least annually or whenever significant changes to the program are made. The full Board of Directors also receives quarterly cybersecurity reports. These updates include information regarding management’s ongoing efforts to manage cybersecurity risk and the steps management has taken to address and mitigate the evolving cybersecurity threat environment. The Risk Oversight Committee members are independent directors and have expertise in areas relevant to their responsibilities over cybersecurity, including senior leadership experience in financial services and information technology.

At the management level, the Company has designated the Chief Risk Officer as the Chief Privacy Officer, who has oversight for managing cybersecurity risk. The Chief Privacy Officer coordinates with the Chief Information Security Officer to ensure the Company’s cybersecurity risk profile is managed in a manner consistent with its risk appetite. The Chief Privacy Officer also provides periodic reports to the Board’s Risk Oversight Committee, outlining the overall status of the Company’s Information Security Program and its compliance with regulatory guidelines, and coordinating and reporting on incident response. The Chief Information Security Officer is responsible for the day-to-day management of the Information Security Program and Security Incident Response Policy and Plan. The Chief Privacy Officer has held various leadership roles at the bank, including over 13 years previously serving as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer. The Chief Information Security Officer has over 20 years of work experience in cybersecurity at financial institutions.

The Information Security Program is supported by three lines of defense. The Information Security Team is the first line of defense under the Chief Information Security Officer and provides the day-to-day cybersecurity operations including identification and reporting of internal and external threats, access control, data security, protective controls, detection of malicious or unauthorized activity, incident response, recovery planning, performing vulnerability and third party information security assessments, and employee awareness and training programs. In addition, the Information Security Team works in coordination with the individual business lines that have direct and primary responsibility and accountability for identifying, controlling and monitoring cybersecurity risk embedded in their business activities. The Information Security Team uses reputable industry service providers for security operations, monitoring, investigation and incident response. The internal Information Risk Management team conducts periodic assessments in collaboration with consulting services with expertise in the cybersecurity domains. Furthermore, the Third Party Risk Management Team, in conjunction with the Information Security Team, oversees, identifies, monitors, investigates and addresses material risks from cybersecurity threats associated with the Company’s use of third-party service providers. As the second line of defense, the ERM Team under the Chief Privacy Officer independently monitors cybersecurity risk across the Company, as well as the effectiveness of the Information Security Program, third party vendors’ vulnerability and penetration tests against the Company’s network. The ERM Team reports the status of the annual assessment of the effectiveness of the Information Security Program to the Chief Privacy Officer, who reports to the Board’s Risk Oversight Committee. When applicable, the Company obtains Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagement 18 reports or equivalent reports for vendor products and services hosted by third parties. Internal Audit serves as the third line of defense and provides additional independent assurance and evaluates the effectiveness of cybersecurity risk management.

East West’s corporate headquarters is located at 135 North Los Robles Avenue, Pasadena, California, an eight-story office building, of which it owns 50%. The Company operates in 21 owned and 90 leased locations in the U.S., as well as 11 leased locations in Asia. In the U.S., the Bank’s corporate headquarters and main administrative offices are located in California, and its branches and offices are located in California, Texas, New York, Washington, Georgia, Massachusetts, Illinois and Nevada. In Asia, East West’s presence includes full service branches in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Shantou and Shenzhen, representative offices in Beijing, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Xiamen, and Singapore, and administrative support offices in Beijing and Shanghai. All properties occupied by the Bank are used across all business segments and for corporate purposes.

The Company believes that its facilities are adequate and suitable for its business needs. It evaluates its current and projected space needs and may determine that certain premises or facilities are no longer necessary for its operations. The Company believes that, if necessary, it could secure alternative properties on similar terms without adversely affecting its operations.

Not applicable.

ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

The Company’s common stock is traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “EWBC”. As of January 31, 2024, the Company had 702 stockholders of record of the Company’s common stock, not including beneficial owners whose shares are held in record names of brokers or other nominees.

Holders of the Company’s common stock are entitled to receive cash dividends when declared by the Company’s Board of Directors out of legally available funds. The Board of Directors presently intends to continue the policy of paying quarterly cash dividends, however, there can be no assurance as to future dividends because they are dependent on the Company’s future earnings, capital requirements and financial condition.

The following graph and table compare the Company’s cumulative total return on its common stock with the cumulative total return of the Standard & Poor’s (“S&P”) 500 Index and the KBW Nasdaq Bank Index (“BKX”) over the five-year period through December 31, 2023. The cumulative total shareholder return assumes the investment of $100 in the Company’s common stock and in each index on December 31, 2018 and the reinvestment of common stock dividends.

The S&P 500 Index is utilized as a benchmark against performance and is a commonly referenced U.S. equity benchmark consisting of leading companies from different economic sectors. The BKX is designed to track the performance of the leading banks and thrifts that are publicly-traded in the U.S., and comprises 24 banking stocks representing the large U.S. national money centers, regional banks and thrift institutions.

The graph is not indicative of future stock price performance. The information set forth under the heading “Five-Year Stock Performance” shall not be deemed to be “soliciting material” or to be “filed” with the SEC or subject to the liabilities of Section 18 of the Exchange Act, except to the extent that the Company specifically requests that such information to be treated as soliciting material or specifically to be incorporated by reference into a filing under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act.

The following table summarizes the Company’s common stock repurchase activity during the fourth quarter of 2023:

EAST WEST BANCORP, INC.

ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL

CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

Although recent external data indicates that inflation remains above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, the steadily slowing pace of inflation could point to receding fears of a recession in 2024. The likelihood of a “soft landing” scenario appears more likely given the Federal Reserve’s commitment to this outcome. The Federal Reserve has held interest rates steady over the latter half of 2023 and recently indicated the potential for rate cuts in 2024 and beyond. However, the higher interest rate environment continues to negatively impact the market value of bank-held securities, and the CRE industry has slowed due to tighter credit conditions and decreased demand. Other factors such as the economic impacts of unrest, wars, and acts of terrorism could lead to higher oil prices and increased inflationary pressures, along with the possibility that the Federal Reserve could maintain high interest rates longer than anticipated. While a U.S. government shutdown was averted in 2023, a future shutdown is possible and could negatively impact the economy. The Company monitors changes in economic and industry conditions and their impacts on the Company’s business, customers, employees, communities, and markets.

The Company’s 2023 net income was $1.2 billion, an increase of $33 million, or 3%, from 2022 net income of $1.1 billion. The increase was primarily due to higher net interest income before provision for credit losses, partially offset by increases in the noninterest expense, provision for credit losses and income tax expense. Noteworthy items about the Company’s performance for 2023 included:

The Company’s primary source of revenue is net interest income, which is the interest income earned on interest-earning assets less interest expense paid on interest-bearing liabilities. Net interest margin is the ratio of net interest income to average interest-earning assets. Net interest income and net interest margin are impacted by several factors, including changes in average balances and the composition of interest-earning assets and funding sources, market interest rate fluctuations and the slope of the yield curve, repricing characteristics and maturity of interest-earning assets and interest-bearing liabilities, the volume of noninterest-bearing sources of funds, and asset quality.

Net interest income and net interest margin for 2023 increased year-over-year, which primarily reflected higher loan yields, increased loan volume, and higher yields on interest-bearing cash and deposits with banks, and AFS debt securities, partially offset by a higher cost of interest-bearing deposits and higher short-term borrowings. The changes in yields and rates reflected higher benchmark interest rates.

Average interest-earning assets were $64.0 billion in 2023, an increase of $4.7 billion or 8% from $59.3 billion in 2022. The increase in average interest-earning assets primarily reflected loan growth, and higher interest-bearing cash and deposits with banks, partially offset by decreases in assets purchased under resale agreements (“resale agreements”) and AFS debt securities.

The yield on average interest-earning assets was 5.77% in 2023, an increase of 186 bps from 3.91% in 2022. The year-over-year increase in the yield on average interest-earning assets primarily resulted from higher benchmark interest rates.

The average loan yield was 6.40% in 2023, an increase of 188 bps from 4.52% in 2022. The year-over-year change in the average loan yield reflected the loan portfolio’s sensitivity to higher benchmark interest rates. Approximately 58% and 62% of loans held-for-investment were variable-rate as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively.

Deposits are an important source of funds and impact both net interest income and net interest margin. Average deposits were $55.0 billion in 2023, an increase of $663 million or 1% from $54.3 billion in 2022. Average noninterest-bearing deposits were $17.2 billion in 2023, a decrease of $5.6 billion or 25% from $22.8 billion in 2022. Average noninterest-bearing deposits made up 31% and 42% of average deposits for 2023 and 2022, respectively.

The average cost of deposits was 2.19% in 2023, an increase of 173 bps from 0.46% in 2022. The average cost of interest-bearing deposits was 3.19% in 2023, an increase of 239 bps from 0.80% in 2022. The year-over-year increases reflected higher rates paid on time deposits, money market and checking deposits, and the customer migration to higher yielding deposit products in response to the higher interest rate environment.

The average cost of funds calculation includes deposits, short-term borrowings, FHLB advances, assets sold under repurchase agreements (“repurchase agreements”) and long-term debt. In 2023, the average cost of funds was 2.35%, an increase of 185 bps from 0.50% in 2022. The year-over-year increase was mainly driven by the change in the average cost of deposits discussed above.

The following table presents the interest spread, net interest margin, average balances, interest income and expense, and the average yield/rate by asset and liability component in 2023, 2022 and 2021:

The following table summarizes the extent to which changes in (1) interest rates, and (2) volume of average interest-earning assets and average interest-bearing liabilities affected the Company’s net interest income for the periods presented. The total change for each category of interest-earning assets and interest-bearing liabilities is segmented into changes attributable to variations in volume and yield/rate. Changes that are not solely due to either volume or yield/rate are allocated proportionally based on the absolute value of the change related to average volume and average yield/rate.

The following table presents the components of noninterest income for the periods indicated:

Noninterest income comprised 11% and 13% of total revenue in 2023 and 2022, respectively. Noninterest income for 2023 was $295 million, compared with $299 million in 2022. The decrease was primarily due to lower customer derivative income and net losses on AFS debt securities, partially offset by increases in other income, lending fees, and foreign exchange income.

Lending fees were $84 million in 2023, an increase of $5 million or 6%, compared with $79 million in 2022. The year-over-year increase was driven by higher unused commitment and letter of credit facility fees.

Customer derivative income was $20 million in 2023, a decrease of $9 million or 30%, compared with $29 million in 2022. The year-over-year decrease was primarily due to unfavorable credit valuation adjustments, partially offset by higher transaction volume, interest received on derivative collateral posted and energy contract income.

Foreign exchange income was $52 million, an increase of $4 million or 9%, compared with $48 million in 2022. The year-over-year increase was primarily due to higher gains on foreign exchange trades, partially offset by the unfavorable valuation of certain foreign currency denominated balance sheet items.

Net losses on AFS debt securities of $7 million in 2023 were due to a $10 million write-off of an impaired subordinated AFS debt security during the first quarter of 2023, partially offset by a $3 million gain when the security was sold in the fourth quarter of 2023. In comparison, net gains on AFS debt securities were $1 million in 2022.

Other income was $16 million in 2023, an increase of $5 million or 41%, compared with $11 million in 2022. The year-over-year increase was primarily due to higher income from bank-owned life insurance policies.

The following table presents the components of noninterest expense for the periods indicated: