Preferred Bank said that it has received regulatory approval to open a branch in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The downtown Los Angeles bank, which specializes in the Chinese-American market, said late Monday that the approval came last week from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the California Department of Financial Institutions.

The new San Francisco branch office, located at 600 California St., will build on the bank’s existing customer relationships in the Bay Area, which is home to the state’s second largest Chinese-American population. The bank, which has 10 offices in Los Angeles and Orange counties, did not say when it expected to open the new office.

Shares closed up 26 cents, or 2 percent, to $13.65 on the Nasdaq.