From the East.Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. is a capital for Asian banks. More than a quarter of all banks headquartered in Los Angeles County are owned by ethnic Asians. But even LA County has never seen a bank that is owned by and caters to the Cambodian community. The state Department of Financial Institutions last week approved the establishment of Golden Coast Bank, which is to be located at 850 Long Beach Blvd. in a former Big 5 Sporting Goods Big 5 Sporting Goods (NASDAQ: BGFV) is a sporting goods retailer headquartered in El Segundo, California with 344 stores in 10 western states. Steven G. Miller is the Chairman, President, and CEO. store in Long Beach. It is to open late this year or early next. Organizers believe it will be the first Cambodian bank in the country. An estimated 30,000 to 50,000 ethnic Cambodians live in Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, , and Long Beach is the center of the community, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the bank's consultant, A. Wade Francis. Although a community got established in Long Beach in the 1950s, many more immigrated in the 1970s when they lied the Khmer Rouge's killing fields. Francis said immigrants typically begin by working for someone else, then they establish their own bustles. Pretty soon, they want their own bank, he said. There are about 600 Cambodian-owned businesses in the Long Beach area, The bank will be staffed by those who speak the Cambodiian Khmer language Khmer language or Cambodian language Mon-Khmer language spoken by more than seven million people in Cambodia (where it is the national language), southern Vietnam, and parts of Thailand. and can help with Cambodian money transfers. The bank's president and chief executive will be William T.C. Lu, a longtime banker. He is a director of the California Independent Bankers trade association and was a founding member and former president of the National Association of Chinese American Chinese Americans (Chinese language: 美籍華人 or 華裔美國人) are Americans of Chinese descent. Chinese Americans constitute one group of Overseas Chinese and are a subgroup of Asian Americans. Bankers. Directors include Evan Braude Anderson, a former Long Beach councilmember, and two leaders in the Cambodian community, Richer San and Peter Long. Francis, who is president and chief executive of Unicon Financial Services Inc. in Long Beach, said the organizers are on track to raise $12 million in capital |
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