East West Bancorp Invites Public to Listen to Fourth-Quarter Earnings Conference Call on the Web.

Business Editors

SAN MARINO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 9, 2001

In conjunction with East West Bancorp's, (Nasdaq: EWBC) fourth-quarter earnings announcement, members of the public are invited to listen to the company's live quarterly earnings conference call on the Internet Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2001, at 8:30 a.m. PST / 11:30 a.m. EST.

The conference call will feature Dominic Ng, president and CEO, and Julia Gouw, chief financial officer, in a discussion of fourth-quarter results and recent operating developments.

Financial results will be released over the news wires before the market opens on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2001. Investors wishing to hear the conference call may log onto http://www.streetfusion.com or http://www.eastwestbank.com.

About East West

East West Bancorp is a publicly owned company, with more than $2.3 billion in assets, whose stock is traded on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol "EWBC". The company's wholly-owned subsidiary East West Bank is the fourth largest commercial bank headquartered in Southern California. East West Bank serves the community with 29 branches throughout Los Angeles, Orange, San Francisco and Santa Clara counties. It is also one of the largest financial institutions in the nation focusing on the Chinese-American community.

For more information on East West Bancorp (via fax and at no cost), call 800/PRO-INFO and dial client code "EWBC". If calling from outside the United States, dial 732/544-2850. The company's Web site can be reached at http://www.eastwestbank.com.