Bank of Hope


Bank of Hope is the largest Korean American bank. It is based in Los Angeles. It is owned by Hope Bancorp, Inc., a bank holding company. It offers commercial banking loan and deposit products through 58 branches in California, Washington, Texas, Illinois, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Georgia, and Alabama. It also operates Small Business Administration loan production offices in Seattle, Denver, Dallas, Atlanta, Portland, Oregon and Annandale, Virginia; a commercial loan production office in Fremont, California; residential mortgage loan production offices in California; and a representative office in Seoul, Korea.
It is on the list of largest banks in the United States.

History

On November 30, 2011, Nara Bank, which was established in 1989, merged with Center Financial Corporation, which was established in 1986. Nara Bancorp, Inc. changed its name to BBCN Bancorp, Inc. Center Bank changed its name to BBCN Bank. BBCN was an acronym for Business Bank of Center and Nara.
On February 15, 2013, the company acquired Pacific International Bancorp, the holding company for Pacific International Bank, a Washington state-chartered bank with 4 branches in the Seattle metropolitan area.
In August 2013, the company acquired Foster Bankshares, Inc. and became the largest Korean-American Bank in Chicago.
In July 2016, BBCN Bank and Wilshire Bank merged and were rebranded as Bank of Hope, with Hope Bancorp, Inc. as the bank holding company.
In 2017, the bank acquired U & I Financial Corp, based in Seattle.
In August 2017, the bank opened a branch in Houston.