After surviving 30 years as a bank in Orange County,through disco, the Reagan Years, a string of bank failures in the early 1990s and industry consolidation,Sunwest Bank could soon find itself the largest bank headquartered here.
But these days, it doesn’t take much to be in the running for the title of largest OC-based bank. Tustin-based Sunwest only has about $200 million in assets sitting in three branches, according to bank officials. But it stands to claim the top spot after Salt Lake City-based Zions Bancorporation completes its planned acquisition of Laguna Hills-based Eldorado Bank later this year. Eldorado currently is the largest OC bank with 10 branches in the county and $1.2 billion in assets.
Other recent bank departures and acquisitions have made it possible for little Sunwest to be the top dog. First Bank & Trust relocated its headquarters from Newport Beach to San Francisco last year. In November, Los Angeles-based People’s Bank of California acquired Orange-based BYL Bank Group, parent of Bank of Yorba Linda. And Orange National Bank was scooped up by Ontario, Calif.-based Citizens Business Bank last year.
Other acquisitions in the banking sector have taken five other bank headquarters out of OC in the past two years, leaving the race for No. 1 open for the remaining few.
“I have got pride in the bank for a lot of reasons,” said Jim LeSieur, Sunwest’s chief executive. “We made it through the tough times. It has taken a lot of hard work to get where we are.”
But Sunwest’s claim to the top spot could be short-lived. Other banks, such as Newport Beach based Pacific Mercantile Bank and Brea-based Pacific Western National Bank, are growing and closing in.
But Sunwest isn’t “sitting idly by,” LeSieur said. It has enough capital to grow its assets to more than $300 million and just added a new president, Chris Walsh, to help reach that goal. Walsh, who came on board late last year, takes over the president’ s title from LeSieur.
“We didn’t miss a beat,” LeSieur said. “I took a stack (of papers) off my desk and put it on his.”
The bank also has bolstered its board of directors with five new members. LeSieur said he is looking to bring in more business by expanding the bank’s network of contacts.
“We are looking hard to expansion,” he said.
The bank has plans to open another branch in Orange County this year, LeSieur said. Last year it relocated one of its branches from Orange to Anaheim.
“Our lease was up and it is a more upscale location with better access,” LeSieur said of the move.
With central OC covered, LeSieur said the bank hopes to put branches in the north and south parts of the county. n
