MetroCorp, first incorporated in 1998, was an overseas Chinese bank holding company for two overseas Chinese banks in the United States: MetroBank National Association (MetroBank, simplified Chinese: 首都银行; traditional Chinese: 首都銀行; pinyin: Shǒudū Yínháng) and Metro United Bank. The company was one of the few overseas Chinese banks / financial institutions that were publicly held. MetroBank operated banks in Greater Houston and the Dallas-Fort Worth Area in Texas.[5][6] MetroBank had its headquarters in its parent company's offices.[2]
As of 2007 MetroBank was one of four overseas Chinese banks with its headquarters in Houston, and it was the only Houston-based overseas Chinese bank that is publicly traded.[7] The other MetroCorp subsidiary, Metro United Bank, operated in California.[8] Metro United had its headquarters in the City of Industry.[9]
In 2014, East West Bank acquired MetroBank for $268 million in cash and stock,[10] and MetroBank branches were to be rebranded in 2014.[11]
History
Metro Bank was founded in 1987 in SW Chinatown.[12]
In September 2009, MetroBank had 10 Greater Houston branches and 3 Dallas-Fort Worth branches, with assets of $1.2 billion. Metro United had assets of $426.8 million. During that year, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency asked MetroBank to revise its balance sheet. MetroBank signed a formal agreement with the office to do this within 90 days.[8]
In 2010, MetroBank signed an agreement with Bank of China-Shanghai so that MetroBank could offer services involving the renminbi, the currency of the People's Republic of China.[13]
Although the establishment of its original bank marked the new residential trend of Chinese Americans and Asian Americans, a significant majority of them still reside in the traditional regions of the western coast of the United States. The huge market was simply too big to ignore for the company and it thus begun its expansion into California, the state with most Chinese American and Asian American population.
^"Contact the BoardArchived 2011-06-15 at the Wayback Machine." MetroBank. Retrieved on December 27, 2010. "Corporate Secretary MetroCorp Bancshares, Inc. 9600 Bellaire Blvd. Suite 252 Houston, TX 77036 United States ."
^"MetroCorp Bancshares Inc. (Nasdaq:MCBI), a Texas corporation, which through its subsidiary, MetroBank, NA, provides community banking services in Houston[...]"
^"About Us." (Archive) Metro United Bank. Retrieved on December 27, 2010. "Metro United Bank is headquartered in Rowland Heights and was established to meet the diverse financial needs of customers throughout Southern and Northern California."
