William Chu: President and CEO United Pacific Bank.Residence: Downey Born: 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. Education: B.A., economics, University of Winnipeg The University of Winnipeg (U of W) is a public university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada that focuses primarily on undergraduate education. The U of W's founding colleges were Manitoba College and Wesley College, which merged to form United College in 1938. ; M.B.A., University of Southern California The U.S. News & World Report ranked USC 27th among all universities in the United States in its 2008 ranking of "America's Best Colleges", also designating it as one of the "most selective universities" for admitting 8,634 of the almost 34,000 who applied for freshman admission Start in Banking: "I was working for Deloitte as an accountant in Canada when my in-laws helped get me a job with a bank in Littie Rock, Ark. I was only in Little Rock for 18 months, but I learned everything about U.S. banking in a short time." Previous Jobs: Transferred to 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. in 1987, where he became chief financial officer at the Bank of Trade, the first Chinese-American bank in L.A. to directly compete with Cathay Bank Cathay Bank (Chinese: 國泰銀行) is a Chinese-American bank based in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1962, it has since expanded its network throughout California and into Massachusetts, New York, Texas, Washington, Illinois, and New Jersey (pending the . In 1990, Chu moved to United Pacific Bank and left there in 1994 to build up the commercial lending division for East West Bank. In 2000, Chu was brought in to help save the Los Angeles Community Bank. Target Market: Since it was chartered by local Chinatown businessmen in 1982, United Pacific Bank's core market has been small- and middle-market L.A.-based Chinese companies Chinese owned companies can be defined as enterprises within mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and the Republic of China (Taiwan):
Expansion Plans: "We don't have the branch network right now to support retail customers. When the right acquisition target comes up, we'll grab that opportunity." Philosophy: "Banking is a long-term industry, and it is never wise to be overly aggressive at the cost of stability." He calls the financial advisory side of banking--helping small business owners grow--the most gratifying grat·i·fy tr.v. grat·i·fied, grat·i·fy·ing, grat·i·fies 1. To please or satisfy: His achievement gratified his father. See Synonyms at please. 2. part. "If they become successful, we become successful." Importance of Ethnic Banking: "L.A.'s Chinese community is one of the biggest trading partners in the Pacific Rim, and these small, community banks have played a vital role in facilitating a culture that is, by nature, entrepreneurial." Challenges: "The entire industry has become more regulated since 9/11, driving up compliance costs and making it difficult for small banks to survive. Compared to 20 years ago, competition in the Asian community is downright fierce with more than 30 Chinese-American banks operating in L.A. Banking today is more of a commodity." |
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