4.Its capital was approximately $2.3 million.
5.Its loan portfolio had been cleaned regularly during the bank and sav-
ings and loan crisis of the 1980s and early 1990s. In fact, the bank had
stood the test of the 1980s banking crisis and was still in operation.
6.It is located in a city in the center between Los Angeles County and
Orange County, which makes it accessible to many community
members.
7.The bank’s senior staff was essentially out because of their bad per-
formance, but not all were replaced. This situation helped us to partici-
pate in the selection of the new management (while waiting for federal
approval for change of bank control).The Bank of Whittier had been in business since December 1982. It
offered a unique service environment, with ‘‘sit-down’’ teller stations, and a
location on Whittier Boulevard, a major commercial street, in the same
complex with the Whittier Community Hospital and at least two medical
doctors’ professional buildings.
In December 1997, we signed an agreement with the Board of Directors
of Greater Pacific Bancshares and Bank of Whittier to purchase up to 100%
of the shares of Greater Pacific Bancshares. The Bank was operating under a
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) from the regulators. The MOU re-
quired that the management and board of directors improve the board of
directors committees and supervision, hire necessary senior staff, increase
capital, and not distribute dividends or acquire new companies/banks until
approved by the authorities. After reviewing the OCC’s most recent bank
examination results, we concluded that it was good to note that the exam-
iners were now increasingly positive about the bank because of its new
management and the new loan cleanup and classification system installed
by the new management. In addition, the feeling was that the MOU might
be removed very shortly. The total of adversely classified items, as a percent
of the total assets, was 6.6 percent. Out of that, total past-due and non-ac-
crual loans and leases were 5.8 percent of the total gross loans and leases.
ALLL, allowances for loan and lease losses, were adequate and the analysis
used was reasonable. The ALLL totaled approximately $796,000 in mid-
1997 and was 4.6 percent of the total loans.
In general, the new management continued its efforts to improve credit
quality, credit administration, and risk management. Based on the public
information and the audited financial statement of the bank and bank hold-
ing company, we came up with the following:
&Capital ratios:Tangible equity capital as a percent of total assets was
estimated at 7.8 percent, indicating that the bank passed theStarting an RF Bank in the United States 289