Our Philosophy

"Enabling Those In Need"

As an institutional philosophy, the primary objective of our community contributions strategy is to "enable" low-to-moderate income (LMI) individuals and the communities in which they live to grow into sustainable, desirable, more culturally integrated, and more comfortably managed lifestyles and environments.

"Enabling" is a very purposeful and very specifically defined objective at East West Bank (EWB).  It means that we seek first and foremost to help people and communities in need to help themselves.  We believe steadfastly that this approach, far more than traditionally accepted monetary giving alone, will help create positive and desirable change that is above all else, sustainable. 

A contrasting example would be the practice of creating seemingly "interest favorable" mortgage loans for LMI individuals.  These products, we believe, create an illusion of support for those in need.  More often than not, this illusion may potentially put the well-intentioned LMI candidate in even greater longer-term peril.  This is not, therefore, the type of path East West Bank would pursue.  Fairness, ethics, and helping to create truly sustainable results are at the heart of our CRA program.  This philosophy is very natural to EWB, as it began with our founding philosophy of providing uniquely tailored products and services that help Asian immigrants integrate sustainably into desirable American lifestyles.

Our plan today is to support, educate, and illuminate paths for LMI people and communities that will create real and sustained progress.  Some of these paths may require harder work, longer commitment and a longer period of time to fruition, but we believe that the results are far more meaningful and sustainable than the very common "paths of least resistance" many institutions use to side-step time consuming contributions that lead to truly impactful results.

Therefore, we seek and utilize investments, loans products, and community service activities that help people help themselves, and also provide communities, either directly or indirectly, the resources needed for sustained progress.

East West Bank (EWB) is committed to operating in full compliance with the letter and the spirit of the Community Reinvestment Act (“CRA”). The Bank is a California state-chartered member bank, headquartered in Pasadena, California with over seventy branches and four Loan Production Offices in California and one branch in Texas. The Bank’s wide distribution network is the result of organic growth, as well as targeted acquisitions such as United National Bank in 2005, Standard Savings Bank in 2006 and Desert Community Bank in 2007.