A year ago, First Standard Bank was in dire straits.
The Los Angeles bank, which specializes in commercial lending, particularly to small businesses, was burdened by a large number of bad loans and received a cease-and-desist letter from federal regulators a death knell for many institutions.
But the bank fought back, bringing in William Im, a longtime player in Southern California’s Korean-American banking community, to help turn things around.
With Im at the helm, the bank has not only weathered the storm in the financial industry over the past few months, but it has even improved its loan portfolio.
“We are almost breaking even now and assets have stabilized,” said Im, who tightened lending standards after he was appointed. “Now we’re just waiting for the storm to move out. I think by the middle of this year we’ll start to see the clouds clear.”
The 64-year-old banker, who describes himself as “well known in the community,” started his undergraduate education in Korea before heading across the Pacific Ocean to get his M.B.A. in finance at USC.
After considering a career in engineering, Im jumped to the banking world, eventually working his way into the ranks of upper management.
In the late 1990s, Im left Wilshire State Bank to help organize Uniti Bank in Buena Park, the first bank in Orange County to cater specifically to Korean-Americans. Uniti Bank proved extremely successful, growing upwards of 50 percent a year for its first few years.
Meanwhile, First Standard, founded in 2005, lost $1.8 million in 2006 and $4.1 million in 2007 on a largely commercial loan portfolio. Rumors began flying that the bank, with $160 million in total assets, was a likely target for acquisition.
Then, in late January 2008, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. issued a cease-and-desist order to the bank. The order, which alleged a variety of “unsafe or unsound banking practices,” called on the bank to overhaul management and repair its poor loan portfolio. Among the changes requested, the FDIC ordered the bank to find “a chief executive officer with experience in upgrading a low quality loan portfolio, improve earnings and other matters needing particular attention.”
Almost immediately, Im received a call.
“The bank board felt like I was the right person and I felt like I could do a good job,” he said.
An even-tempered businessman who sings in a choir and has a passion for gardening, Im has proved adept at turning the bank’s fortunes around. Im said he is hopeful for the future of the institution, and even the entire U.S. banking industry.
“Banks are learning to survive in this environment, so we’re getting more hopeful for the future,” he said.
William Im
Chief Executive
First Standard Bank, Los Angeles
Appointed April 2008
