Preferred Bank ( zh, t=保富銀行) is a California state-chartered bank founded in 1991 to serve the

Chinese American Chinese Americans are Americans of Han Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans along with their ancestors trace lineage from ...

community in Southern California. The bank expanded in 2015 through acquisition after facing inadequate leverage ratios and concerns about management from its regulator in 2010. In 2023, Preferred Bank was ranked #10 on Bank Director's Top 25 U.S. Banks list.

History

The bank was founded in 1991. In its early years the bank focused its services on the

community in Southern California. Preferred Bank first announced an initial public offering in 1998, but postponed the offering due to poor market conditions. Its eventual IPO in 2005 raised over US$80 million in a sale of over 2 million shares. Preferred Bank is listed on

NASDAQ The Nasdaq Stock Market () (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations Stock Market) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the US by volume, and ranked second ...

(). An inadequate leverage ratio and concerns about management led to a consent decree in March 2010, later lifted and replaced with a memorandum of understanding, in which California banking regulators required the bank to review its management policies and increase its liquidity. In 2015, Preferred Bank acquired

United International Bank United International Bank () was an overseas Chinese bank in the United States, formerly headquartered in New York City. The bank established itself as a locally based community bank serving Chinese Americans and Asian Americans in the New York ...

of Flushing, New York. The loan obligations taken on as part of the acquisition increased its percentage of problem assets significantly, and after losing money on the disposal of problem assets, the company returned to a focus on local business rather than acquisitions.

References

{{Chinese American, state=collapsed Chinese American banks Chinese-American culture in Los Angeles Companies based in Los Angeles Banks based in California Banks established in 1991