Paul Lo: Chairman, Far East National Bank CEO and Founder, SinoPac Holdings.Resilience: Taipei, Taiwan Born: Kun-Ming, China Education: Bachelor's in International Trade & Finance, National University of Taiwan; M.B.A., Indiana State University Indiana State University, main campus at Terre Haute; coeducational; est. 1865 as a normal school, became Indiana State Teachers College in 1929, gained university status in 1965. There is also a campus at Evansville (opened 1965). Start in Banking: Lo's father was a central banker in China, and the inspiration for his banking career. In 1970, Lo joined Citibank as one of the firm's first Asian-born executive trainees in New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. , despite a lack of English proficiency and a U.S. banking culture far different from his home country' s. Previous Jobs: Worked for 10 years in Yaiwan, building Citibank's operations from 70 to 800 employees and Taiwanese assets from $1 million to more than $100 million. Left to form a boutique investment firm focusing on Hong Kong Hong Kong (hŏng kŏng), Mandarin Xianggang, special administrative region of China, formerly a British crown colony (2005 est. pop. 6,899,000), land area 422 sq mi (1,092 sq km), adjacent to Guangdong prov. real estate. In 1990, he returned to Taiwan and raised $400 million to create Bank SinoPac Bank Sinopac, or SinoPac Holding, is a Taiwan-based banking holding company. The bank was founded by Samuel Yin and Paul Lo in 1992 as Taiwan liberalized its banking regulations. , which merged with Far East National Bank in 1997. Target Market: Far East was the first federally chartered Asian American A·sian A·mer·i·can also A·sian-A·mer·i·can n. A U.S. citizen or resident of Asian descent. See Usage Note at Amerasian. A bank in the U.S. Opened in 1974, it caters to commercial deposit clients and construction lending in L.A.'s Chinese community and now has Northern California Northern California, sometimes referred to as NorCal, is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The region contains the San Francisco Bay Area, the state capital, Sacramento; as well as the substantial natural beauty of the redwood forests, the northern branches as well as a branch in Ho Chi Mirth City, Vietnam. Sixty percent of Far East's commercial loans are to domestic U.S. customers, the remainder to Asian-based businesses. Expansion Plans: Opening branches in New York City Philosophy: Lo subscribes to a "knowledge base economy" approach to banking of four major pillars: globalization globalization Process by which the experience of everyday life, marked by the diffusion of commodities and ideas, is becoming standardized around the world. Factors that have contributed to globalization include increasingly sophisticated communications and transportation , information technology, innovation, and human capital. "Sino means Chinese, Pac means Pacific," he noted. "My strategy has been to use options like M&A to create a banking bridge across the Pacific Rim, from Los Angeles to Beijing and back again." Importance of Ethnic Banking: "We view the importance of Asian banking within Los Angeles as part of a much larger financial highway: helping Asian business owners coming into L.A. and LA companies wanting to create a presence in Asia. Challenges: Because Lo has spread his banking operations across six different nations, he cites changing regulatory environments and employee culture as his biggest challenge. "My vice-chairman and president (at Far East National Bank) are both non-Chinese Americans. I learned from Citibank that you have to use local people and promote from within if you want to broaden your local business." |
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