East West takes over Washington First

San Francisco: East West Bancorp Incorporated has acquired the failed operations of Washington First International Bank, raising to 82 the number of US lenders that have collapsed this year.

East West, the lender in Pasadena, California, with $20.3 billion (Dh74.66 billion) in assets, acquired Seattle's Washington First after state regulators closed it, a statement Friday published by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) said.

The failure cost the agency's deposit-insurance fund $158.4 million.

"This acquisition further strengthens our vision to be recognised as the premier bridge between East and West and our position as the largest bank in the US focused on serving the Asian-American community," East West Chief Executive Officer Dominic Ng said in a statement.

The deal showed the bank's commitment to that community in the Seattle region, he said.

Regulators are closing banks at the fastest pace since the 1990s amid loan losses tied to real estate.

The FDIC's list of "problem" lenders is the longest since 1992.

FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair said the confidential list rose to 775 banks with $431 billion in assets in the first quarter.

That was up from 702 banks with $402.8 billion in assets at the end of the fourth quarter.

East West paid a 0.5 per cent premium for Washington First's $441.4 million in deposits. This is the second failed-bank transaction undertaken by East West in seven months.

The lender added $7.5 billion in deposits in Nov-ember when it purchased UCBH Holdings Incorporated's United Commercial Bank after it was shut by regulators.

The United Commercial deal helped East West's assets climb from $12.5 billion in the third quarter to $20.6 billion in the fourth quarter, an increase of 65 per cent, Bloomberg said.

In Friday's transaction, East West picked up about $501 million of Washington First's assets, the FDIC said.