Little Saigon Could See Specialty Bank
By ANDREW SIMONS
Another so-called “ethnic” bank could be coming to North Orange County.
First Vietnamese American Bank plans to set up shop in Westminster’s Little Saigon neighborhood, focusing on Vietnamese-Americans and their businesses.
First Vietnamese will join other ethnic banks in the area, though it is set to be the first one to solely focus on OC’s large Vietnamese community.
Hieu Nguyen, formerly a Beverley Hills-based vice president of Israel Discount Bank Ltd., is First Vietnamese’s founder and chief executive. Nguyen was out of the country last week and couldn’t be reached for comment.
By all indications, the bank still is in the early formation stages. First Vietnamese hasn’t yet submitted its application for a California charter, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
According to reports, Nguyen and his partners plan to file a charter application next month and hope to raise $10 million in a first round of funding. So far the bank has raised $1.3 million, sources said.
There’s long been a need for a Vietnamese-focused bank here, said Ed Carpenter, founder and chief executive of bank advisory firm Carpenter & Co.
“Orange County has the largest concentration of Vietnamese in the U.S. and the largest concentration outside of Vietnam,” Carpenter said.
The county counts about 200,000 people of Vietnamese origin.
First Vietnamese also could have an advantage other banks don’t: The bank won’t require multiple branches.
“When you look at the Vietnamese community here, it’s heavily concentrated in Westminster, which is easy to serve from a single location,” Carpenter said.
Even so, Nguyen has big plans for the bank beyond its initial Westminster location.
According to reports, Nguyen plans to open for business in the fourth quarter. After building deposits, Nguyen plans to open in other Vietnamese communities in Southern California. He and his partners already have gotten started. They are considering a financial literacy course at Vietnamese Community of Orange County Inc., a community group.
North County, with scores of smaller manufacturers, auto shops and retailers, is ripe for banks targeting businesses overlooked by big banks, sources said. That’s allowed upstart banks to do well in OC.
Uniti Bank Corp. of Buena Park, which is geared toward Korean-Americans, has been able to grow deposits since opening in 2001. So far, the bank has $75 million in assets under management, ahead of projections, says William Im, Uniti’s chief executive.
Investors have taken to the idea. Uniti raised $7.5 million in a second round of funding that closed in December, more than the $6 million the bank had originally planned. The bank will use the money in its second round to open branches in other Korean-American communities.
Startup banks had a big run raising money in 2003. Commercial Bank of California, which opened in the former Imperial Bank office in Costa Mesa, closed a $27 million offering,the largest ever for a new California bank, according to Carpenter.
