Los Angeles is a capital for Asian banks. More than a quarter of all banks headquartered in Los Angeles County are owned by ethnic Asians. But even L.A. County has never seen a bank that is owned by and caters to the Cambodian community.

The state Department of Financial Institutions last week approved the establishment of Golden Coast Bank, which is to be located at 850 Long Beach Blvd. in a former Big 5 Sporting Goods store in Long Beach. It is to open late this year or early next.

Organizers believe it will be the first Cambodian bank in the country.

An estimated 30,000 to 50,000 ethnic Cambodians live in Southern California, and Long Beach is the center of the community, according to the bank’s consultant, A. Wade Francis. Although a community got established in Long Beach in the 1950s, many more immigrated in the 1970s when they fled the Khmer Rouge’s killing fields.

Francis said immigrants typically begin by working for someone else, then they establish their own businesses. “Pretty soon, they want their own bank,” he said.

There are about 600 Cambodian-owned businesses in the Long Beach area.

The bank will be staffed by those who speak the Cambodian Khmer language and can help with Cambodian money transfers.

The bank’s president and chief executive will be William T.C. Lu, a longtime banker. He is a director of the California Independent Bankers trade association and was a founding member and former president of the National Association of Chinese American Bankers.

Directors include Evan Braude Anderson, a former Long Beach councilmember, and two leaders in the Cambodian community, Richer San and Peter Long.

Francis, who is president and chief executive of Unicon Financial Services Inc. in Long Beach, said the organizers are on track to raise $12 million in capital.