Doreen Woo Ho's New Chapter Is Her Last, San Fran's R&G Lounge Says "Drop Dead"
October 1, Message from Doreen Woo Ho, CEO of United Commercial Bank:
Dear Valued Customer,
As UCB’s Acting President and CEO, one of my top priorities is to keep our customers updated on important developments at the bank. Over the last several weeks, we have made significant strides in our effort to turn the page and start a “new chapter” in UCB’s history. We are working closely with our regulators to make the bank stronger for the benefit of our customers and other stakeholders in the U.S. and China. Let me briefly summarize the progress we have made in the past few weeks.
Partnership with China Minsheng Bank
I recently returned from China, where I met with the Board and management of our strategic investor, China Minsheng Bank (CMBC). They expressed their continued support of UCB and interest in working together on strategic initiatives and other business synergies.
Currently, a group of 17 young managers from CMBC are visiting our San Francisco headquarters, where they are spending six weeks undergoing both classroom and practical training in various departments of the bank. This collaboration has helped members of both banks deepen our understanding of each other’s business and will help us find new ways to enhance UCB’s high-value products and services.
Capital Plan
We are focused on addressing our capital needs going forward, as we announced in our press release on September 8. To that end, we are aggressively moving forward with our capital plan and have engaged a financial advisor to help us look at all our options. As soon as we have something specific to disclose, we will communicate it publicly to all our customers and other stakeholders.
Financial Restatement & Management Action Plan
In the last few weeks we have aligned our team with our outside auditors at KPMG to work as expeditiously as possible to complete our financial restatement. The entire management team is doing its utmost, as are our auditors, to move the bank forward and put us back on a solid foundation for the future.
Community Support
While we are working hard to move the bank forward, all of us at UCB continue to partner with members of our communities in the U.S. and in the Greater China Region to meet the banking needs of our customers in all of the regions we serve. Two examples stand out.
In Boston, UCB recently helped Chinatown Main Street, a public-private initiative between the City of Boston and the National Trust of Historical Preservation, open an account at our Boston Chinatown Branch to help them support funding of the “2010 Master Plan of Chinatown.” UCB has been a partner with Chinatown Main Street in hosting the street festivals to celebrate Chinese New Year and Autumn Moon Festival in Boston’s Chinatown for many years.
At a recent UCB community dinner in San Francisco’s Chinatown, more than 400 Chinese community leaders and representatives of civic and non-profit organizations in the Bay Area were joined by former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, President of the SF Board of Supervisors David Chiu and Fremont Mayor Bob Wasserman.
Many of the attendees had great stories to share about the ways in which UCB has been there for the San Francisco community over the years. Gordon Chin, Executive Director of Chinatown Community Development Center, mentioned that UCB provides much-needed funding and loans to help build the local community and improve quality of life for residents. Kinson Wong, owner of R&G Lounge, one of the most popular and well known Chinese restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area, shared with everyone that the Bank helped him expand his business in the past 20 years by providing him with several rounds of financing.
I know I speak for all UCB associates in saying that we are very proud of this heritage and the relationships we have developed with our customers and leaders in all the communities we serve.
Finally, I want to emphasize that United Commercial Bank is committed to the highest standards of integrity and transparency in all aspects of our business.
Thank you for your continued confidence in us. As always, if you have any questions or comments, please call us at 1-800-821-3899 or email us at comments@unitedcb.com.
Sincerely,
Doreen Woo Ho
Fast Forward to...
November 6, 2009:
United Commercial Bank, San Francisco, California, was closed today by the California Department of Financial Institutions, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. To protect the depositors, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with East West Bank, Pasadena, California, to assume all of the deposits of United Commercial Bank. This agreement included all U.S. branches of United Commercial Bank, the Hong Kong branch of United Commercial Bank, and the subsidiary of United Commercial Bank headquartered in Shanghai, China, United Commercial Bank (UCB-China).
The 63 U.S. branches of United Commercial Bank will reopen during their normal business hours beginning tomorrow as branches of East West Bank. All locations in Hong Kong and China will reopen on Monday, according to normal business hours. In addition, UCB-China, the Shanghai, China, subsidiary of United Commercial Bank, which was also part of today’s transaction, will continue its regular banking operations without interruption with the full support of its parent company, East West Bank, whose qualification has already passed the preliminary review by the China Banking Regulatory Commission.
...
As of October 23, 2009, United Commercial Bank had total assets of $11.2 billion and total deposits of approximately $7.5 billion. East West Bank paid the FDIC a premium of 1.1 percent for the right to assume all of the deposits of United Commercial Bank. In addition to assuming all of the deposits of the failed bank, East West Bank agreed to purchase approximately $10.2 billion in assets of the failed bank. As part of the purchase and assumption agreement, the FDIC transferred to East West Bank all qualified financial contracts to which United Commercial Bank was a party and those contracts remain in full force and effect.
The FDIC and East West Bank entered into a loss-share transaction on approximately $7.7 billion of United Commercial Bank's assets. East West Bank will share in the losses on the asset pools covered under the loss-share agreement. The loss-share arrangement is projected to maximize returns on the assets covered by keeping them in the private sector. The agreement also is expected to minimize disruptions for loan customers. For more information on loss share, please visit: http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/lossshare/index.html.
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on Fri, 11/06/2009 - 22:11
#123188
Why does it always work out like this? CEO tells you everything is Great! Next thing you know, they hit the iceberg and are going down.
Its getting entirely too predictable. Tell us everything sucks, and MAYBE we'll believe you.
on Fri, 11/06/2009 - 22:40
#123210
Better question: Why is lying to shareholders not being punished with: 1) Fines, 2) Prevention from ever holding office at a publicly traded company ever again.
Instead CEO's float off with the golden parachute.
Claw. That. Shit. Back.
on Fri, 11/06/2009 - 23:50
#123249
Excellent point, Anon@23:40! Sheila "don't worry, be happy" Bair, FDIC, should be disbarring Woo Ho from all FDIC-insured institutions.
on Sat, 11/07/2009 - 02:17
#123309
Bullseye.
on Fri, 11/06/2009 - 22:44
#123211
it is because they and their fellow americans
are congenital liars....
on Sat, 11/07/2009 - 08:25
#123380
We humans are trained (conditioned) our entire life to avoid unpleasant truths by our culture, society, government, corporations and family members. In short, it permeates everything we do and everywhere we go. This practice of avoidance becomes internalized and the only way to conduct our daily affairs. It is all we know and the only way we see both the world and our part in it.
I often read how anger or love are the most powerful emotions. While true on its face, one can not remain in a constant state of anger or love. These emotions rise and fall during the waking day. Denial, however, is always present and the unconscious, the ego, is forever vigilant in deflecting, modifying or obscuring any information that might wake us to reality. Pretty powerful stuff.
I see lies as the outcome of (mostly) conscious decisions. When lies and lying becomes automatic and consistent, it is better described as denial. The actual process of being in denial is almost always an unconscious act and thus far more pervasive and overpowering than simple lies. We rarely recognize we are in denial while we almost always know we are lying.
I'm not splitting hairs. The posters says we Americans are congenital liars. I submit that humans are congenital deniers and we Americans have taken our denial to an extreme beyond what is considered normal and squarely into the danger zone, not only to ourselves but to others around the world.
Of course, when a entity is in severe denial (such as a person addicted to drugs or a country addicted to credit) what often happens is the rest of the family becomes quite dysfunctional when dealing with the addict, either by denying the issue(s) themselves or even helping the addict maintain some normalcy to the point where their world is pulled into the abyss along with the addict.
I do not know which country the poster hails from but may I suggest that your country, as well as many others, have been supplying we Americans with our drug of choice for far too long. In fact, you have become users as well though we can quibble over the degree. And precisely when our addiction has flared to enormous proportions and we should be cut off from our drug, our supply seems to have ballooned as well. And not just from our own production.
It seems that we "congenital liars" have become the proverbial "to big to fail" country and you have become fellow users and even enablers. Welcome to the crazy train fellow congenital liar. Nice to have you aboard. Please settle down, find a seat and fasten your seat belt because you're in for a wild ride. You have entered The Twilight Zone.
on Sat, 11/07/2009 - 08:40
#123384
If the US is the "too big to fail" country, which I agree it is, then the logical conclusion will be to break up the good ol USA. Toot! Toot!
on Sat, 11/07/2009 - 10:34
#123425
That, in my view, is the inevitable and logical answer to the insanity we are currently practicing. Once you reach that conclusion, the only question that remains is will the dismantling be done from within or without our "too big to fail" country.
on Sat, 11/07/2009 - 14:22
#123523
A brilliant post, CD, and nothing can be added. But stating that, I feel as a C.O.F. (crusty old fart) I must mention what also has appeared self-evident to me as an American: too many Americans appear to be raised, or grow up, believing in Obeying Authority.
And their Authority to be obeyed is the TV.
Balkanization to the max!
on Sat, 11/07/2009 - 22:51
#123575
Once we recognize that we have been and remain conditioned (no small feat because it requires us to recognize our own denial) then the discussion must turn to the methods used for the conditioning and of course, who determines the conditioning received.
While I won't afflict you with a long explanation of my views on the various different methods that can (and have) been used, I ask that you think about the following. As a fellow C.O.F. I remember as a younger man very public discussions concerning the practice of inserting subliminal messages into that new and wonderful form of communication called television.
And then the entire subject disappeared from public view after a very concerned population was vigorously assured that the government would ban the practice and closely monitor the public airwaves for it's illegal use. While it pops back to the front of public consciousness every now and then, it's rapidly buried after extremely limited discussion.
Of particular note is the recent 2008 Presidential campaign cycle where both the Obama and McCain campaigns were caught using subliminal messages in their ads, which were amusingly labeled "a mistake" or "in error" and quickly removed from the air waves. Or so we were told.
One simply doesn't in error place subliminal messages in a television ad in the same way an embarrassing moment is caught during a live broadcast or the producers fail to notice something left in the background of a commercial, only to have it discovered by the viewing public.
Subliminal messages come about from deliberate overt acts that require planning and execution. No mistake that I can work out would place one in a commercial advertisement or TV program in error. They aren't stored high up on a shelf from which one becomes jostled and falls into the commercial.
"Oops, my bad. Now what do I do? Damn, I hope no one notices because I don't want to waste my time digging that subliminal message out now that the commercial is finished."
I watch very little TV myself anymore but I still find myself slack jawed and essentially brain dead after 30 or more minutes of watching popular prime time TV. I've talked to dozens of other people about this phenomenon and once I bring it to their attention, almost everyone has reported back to me that the same thing happens to them. They often become engrossed and mindless (dazed was the way one friend wonderfully described it) without recognizing it's happening.
Even if there is an "innocent" explanation for this, and I've spent a great deal of time attempting to disprove my theory that subliminal messages are an integral part of TV, the effect is still the same. The American public has effectively been pacified and indoctrinated by TV over the past 40 years.
All hail the idiot box.
on Sat, 11/07/2009 - 23:09
#123731
Thank you Joyce Brothers.
Now get a rope and hang her.
Hang her high.
on Fri, 11/06/2009 - 22:21
#123194
That bank is in Chinatown. They always looked shady and I have done biz with SF chinatown dirtbags that would make you weep. It's typical of the type of businessperson in Chinatown. Mahjong anyone?
On Friday, November 6, 2009, United Commercial Bank, San Francisco, CA was closed by the California Department of Financial Institutions. Subsequently, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was named Receiver. No advance notice is given to the public when a financial institution is closed.
All deposit accounts, excluding certain brokered deposits, have been transferred to East West Bank, Pasadena, CA. For more information on East West Bank, visit us at www.eastwestbank.com.
The FDIC has assembled useful information regarding your relationship with United Commercial Bank. Besides a checking account, you may have Certificates of Deposit, a business checking account, a Social Security direct deposit, and other relationships with the institution.
on Fri, 11/06/2009 - 22:26
#123199
"Dear Valued Customer,
As CEO, one of my top priorities is to blow hallucinogenic smoke in your face...to turn unhappy audit results upside down into happy faces...to deny your deposits are in jeopardy...to divert your attention by supporting the 2016 Olympics for Chinatown, Boston..."
on Fri, 11/06/2009 - 22:23
#123200
R&G Lounge! I keep thinking of Robot's market commentary from a couple of days ago. I'm sure Ben and Timmy have to be VIP customers. LOL
on Fri, 11/06/2009 - 22:26
#123202
The salt-and-pepper crab at R&G Lounge is delicious.
on Sat, 11/07/2009 - 14:19
#123519
Back in the early 80s you could THE WORLD's BEST Chinese chicken salad,
a Tsing Tao beer and leave the change from a fin for a happy immigrant
at this dive. What a great lunch.
on Fri, 11/06/2009 - 22:29
#123205
Saw this as well.. Funny... According to banktracker, June 2009 Troubled asset ratio was over 100%? Not sure if I'm reading it correctly:
http://banktracker.investigativereportingworkshop.org/banks/california/san-francisco/united-commercial-bank/
on Fri, 11/06/2009 - 23:13
#123227
Once at R&G I was the token white guy at a table of asian-american coworkers. They even gave me this cool sounding nickname, "Bak Gwai".
on Fri, 11/06/2009 - 23:18
#123229
R&G Lounge indeed -- this really takes me back, like 20 years almost... used to eat lunch there a lot, short escape from the downtown -- esp after they cleaned it up -- sounds like a cheesy nightclub/dive, but it's just a basement restaurant that probably kept the prior, um, establishment's name -- of course, in that area, you don't know what goes on in the sub-basement...think alleyways and connected buildings like in movie 48 Hours..
on Fri, 11/06/2009 - 23:29
#123238
she was also in charge of Home Equity at WFC, until she "left for personal reasons".
on Sat, 11/07/2009 - 00:28
#123271
Boo Hoo Hoo,Doreen Woo Ho
on Sat, 11/07/2009 - 01:11
#123293
The bank president's name was "Woo Ho"? Really?
Is this a joke?
How could Anyone in the entire Universe take Anything seriously coming from a banker named "Woo Ho"?
on Sat, 11/07/2009 - 14:26
#123525
I can sorta understand your weak point, Anon #123293, as I frequently would proclaim over the previous eight years, "How could anyone vote for the great-grandson of the first president of the National Association of Manufacturers, and the grandson of the clown who attempted to overthrow FDR, and the son of a WWII pilot who panicked and bailed out of his fighter plane while his two air crewmates were still alive? (Which was subsequently covered over by his father, the senator.)
Funny the questions we pose......
on Sat, 11/07/2009 - 21:37
#123702
With a name like Woo Ho we should have foreseen UCB's BK coming after those infamous WaMu "Whoo hoo!" ads.
on Sat, 11/07/2009 - 01:47
#123306
R&G Lounge Special Beef is AAA rated. Never default on Special Beef. So delicious.
on Sat, 11/07/2009 - 14:22
#123521
+10
on Sat, 11/07/2009 - 02:23
#123311
The crab at R&G Lounge rocks!
on Sat, 11/07/2009 - 03:19
#123325
And that rug really tied that room together....
on Sat, 11/07/2009 - 14:33
#123536
hahahaha whata dump.
I haven't been in since the "big" reno.
on Sat, 11/07/2009 - 03:58
#123332
how pathetic. yet another round of fraudulent, deceitful, material misrepresention of their true financial position. unbelievable. these "cooking the books accounting" at UCB and those directly involved should not only be fired, but perhaps receive jail time also. This includes their CFO, Corporate Controller, Accounting Manager, Accounting Supervisor, and yes, even their very pathetic, independent external auditor/CPAs (sleeping on the job while still collecting the big fat audit fee$$$$s). So much for sound ethics and professional integrity. Such a major joke and then some. To think I was once considering UCB as a possible career track. Obviously, I was much brighter and wiser than this. That acting CEO, Woo Ho, what a HUGE JOKE she turned out to be also. That's why she left Wells Fargo also. Couldn't cut it quite simply. Hopefully, the East West entity will bring prosperity and financial health for all concerned in due time.
on Sat, 11/07/2009 - 04:05
#123337
.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8de2W3rtZsA
.
on Sat, 11/07/2009 - 06:06
#123352
Ken Lay said everything was fine....I lost $900. Gary Winneck said everything was fine....I lost $3600, ditto with GM. I'm soooo not believing in the markets. I spend my money paying off my house nowadays. They're cheats, liars, frauds.
on Sat, 11/07/2009 - 06:45
#123358
Why bother? Just save your money, and quit paying. Eventually the bank will come to you with an offer of 40% of your outstanding balance. Pay that... Do other shit... Profit.
on Sat, 11/07/2009 - 10:32
#123421
Greg Maffei said everything was fine at 360. They filed for bankruptcy shortly thereafte. I can't remember how much I lost. Those lying fuckers.
on Sat, 11/07/2009 - 07:02
#123361
Some truly racist comments here.
Imagine the outrage if all these negative Asian comments were negative Jewish comments.
on Sat, 11/07/2009 - 11:34
#123453
So who you calling a bigger racist? The jews or the Asians?
on Sat, 11/07/2009 - 14:28
#123528
All I know know is they had no interest in doing bond business with a premiere local bond house and a white boy.
That place and management at 2 branches didn't have a clue. How they got to be so many branches boggles the mind.
Probably the only correct move they EVER made was giving R&G $ probably because they always ate there.
on Sat, 11/07/2009 - 13:33
#123496
I think the religion of Dude-ism can offer some light here, on the racism issue.
Would you not agree?
http://www.dudeism.com/Images/manifesto-images/chinaman.gif
on Sat, 11/07/2009 - 14:32
#123529
Negative Jewish comments? Greenspan, Rubin, Geithner, Summers, Paulson, Kissinger, Gensler, Greenberg, Friedman, Blankfein, Rahm Emanuel, Steni Hoyer and his sister (AIPAC director)........
Positive Jewish comments? Naomi Klein, Judge Rakoff, (Sen.) Feingold, (Sen.) Bernie Sanders, William Greider......
on Sat, 11/07/2009 - 07:32
#123368
You guys just don't understand the rules.
CEOs, treasury, Administration, the FED, and the media (Cramer), can ALL lie to the shareholders and public at large, but don't you, I, or some lowly blogger dare try it.
Okay? Now you know.
on Sat, 11/07/2009 - 08:07
#123376
CEO's telling the truth to shareholders, customers, and employees jumped the shart a long time ago. They lie, get over it. If the financial statements lie, then you can get mad.
What really pisses me off thouThat this Ho (pun intended) could be jetting off to China and bringing 17 mid-level bank managers back to the states for training? 2 months before the bank is shut down? WTF?!? The money spent by the bank for those ridiculous exercises in futililty should be clawed back from each and every c-level ho and all those on the board, too.
on Sat, 11/07/2009 - 09:04
#123391
CEO's ...lie, get over it. If the financial statements lie, then you can get mad.
Ummm. Ya. I believe we can add accountants to the mix. This is an all inclusive club.
on Sat, 11/07/2009 - 09:00
#123389
www.LebowskiParty.com
Worry not, the fix is coming.
on Sat, 11/07/2009 - 09:15
#123395
Just double-checked the rulebook to be sure, best I can gather, it's against them to tell the truth.
on Sat, 11/07/2009 - 10:22
#123416
Where are all the lies in that letter? I don't see anything that says the bank was healthy financially. She acknowledged that the financial statements were late and that they were working to put the bank back on a sound foundation, which obviously implies that the bank wasn't on a sound foundation at the time.
on Sat, 11/07/2009 - 14:34
#123538
Major apologies for the following but I couldn't resist:
Wen a major financial Ho says anything, head for the hills.........
on Sat, 11/07/2009 - 14:54
#123547
And always listen to bros before hos, SD.
I apologize for that ......couldn't help myself.
on Sat, 11/07/2009 - 15:03
#123552
Walk by the bank in downtown SF everyday. Not surprised, so many more to come!
on Sun, 11/08/2009 - 20:13
#124166
The complete negative list: geitner, greenspan, feinberg, bernhake, ram emmanuel, axelrod, summers, volcker, pelosi, napolitano(yes, pelosi and napolitano), neil barofsky, cass sumstein, gessler, rattner, schumer, barney frank larry summer, ben mosche (aig), hank greenberg, robert rubin, harvey blankfein. Separation of Church and state? You must be kidding.
on Mon, 11/09/2009 - 11:22
#124681
Let's not forget that this is at least the second financial institution that received TARP funding that has failed - CIT last week and now UCBH. CIT may cost taxpayers 2.3 billion, UCBH close to 300 million. Wonder how that factors into the governments calculations on the "returns" on their "investments"....
on Mon, 11/09/2009 - 11:25
#124686
Let's not forget that UCBH is the second publicly traded institution that has failed after receiving TARP payments from the treasury. They received almost 300 million, prior to this CIT failed and will potentially cost 2.3 billion to taxpayers. Wonder how Treasury plans to include this in their "returns" on their TARP "investments."
on Fri, 11/13/2009 - 15:06
#130059
Doreen's string of failures continue. After getting fired from Wells it's amazing she got this job. Apparently she didn't do much of better job for UCB either. though I am sure she walked away with big $$$, they all do.