Downtown-based Cathay General Bancorp, parent of the $17.1 billion-in-asset Cathay Bank, announced plans to repurchase up to $50 million of its stock.

The bank also announced May 7 that it had completed a previous repurchase program for $45 million – first announced last October. Under this program, Cathay repurchased 1,182,060 shares at an average cost of $38.07.

Cathay stock closed at $37 on Tuesday, down 37 cents. The company has approximately 80,352,310 shares outstanding,

Finance reporter Pat Maio can be reached at [email protected] or (323) 556-8329.