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"). East West Bancorp is a publicly owned company with $20 billion in assets and is traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol "EWBC". The Company's wholly owned subsidiary, East West Bank, is one of the largest independent commercial banks headquartered in California with over 130 locations worldwide, including the U.S. markets of California, New York, Georgia, Massachusetts, Texas and Washington. In Greater China, East West’s presence includes a full service branch in Hong Kong and representative offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Taipei. Through a wholly-owned subsidiary bank, East West's presence in Greater China also includes full service branches in Shanghai and Shantou and representative offices in Beijing and Guangzhou. For more information on East West Bancorp, visit the Company's website at www.eastwestbank.com.