Dominic Ng, president, chief executive and chairman of East West Bancorp, parent of $56.9 billion-in-asset East West Bank, didn’t waste time adding his voice earlier this year as corporate leaders in the Asian American banking community called for an end to hate crimes.

In January, Ng wrote to President Joe Biden asking him to help “stem the tide of hate and xenophobia that has swelled in our nation.”
 
In May, Biden signed a memorandum condemning racism, xenophobia and intolerance against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.
 
As head of the largest bank in Southern California, Ng’s voice is a big one. But he’s not the only local banking executive who has raised concern about hate crimes in the Asian American community. Leaders from Bank of America Corp., Banner Bank, Wells Fargo Co., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Comerica Inc. have also chimed in to support the cause.
 
Comerica recently appointed Sonya Trac as the national Asian American business development manager, supporting the bank’s ongoing commitment to strengthening relationships with Asian American business leaders, entrepreneurs and communities across its primary markets of California, Arizona, Florida, Michigan and Texas.
 
Comerica, like other big banks, has been putting money into minority depository institutions to give them extra capital to lend in minority communities. Comerica recently deposited $2.5 million into Westlake-based Royal Business Bank, which is on the prowl for acquisitions in the Asian American banking community after recently raising $120 million in a private debt offering.

Local bankers Jesse Kung and Benjamin Lin have joined a nine-person Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. panel developing strategies to preserve and promote minority depository institutions nationally.
 
Kung is president and chief executive of Pasadena-based Evertrust Bank, a $989 million-in-asset institution, while Lin is president and chief executive of Rosemead-based Pacific Alliance Bank, a $358.3 million-in-asset institution.