Bankoh cuts
research unit

The bank says there are
no layoffs from the move

By Russ Lynch
Star-Bulletin

Bank of Hawaii has cut its economic research department, which for nearly five decades had answered queries from a range of Hawaii's business professionals and members of the public.

However, the two full-time economists -- Paul Brewbaker, chief economist, and Wali Osman, regional economist -- are still there, said Carole Tang, a spokeswoman for the bank.

"We still fully utilize two economists for analyses, forecasts and reports on the markets we serve," she said yesterday.

The difference is that the economic functions are internalized, serving the bank itself rather than the outside world.

Tang said the restructuring involved no layoffs.

The bank formed its economic research unit, the first in a Hawaii bank, in 1949.

First Hawaiian Bank, which formed a similar unit 10 years later, earlier this year announced plans to close its research deparment after Chief Economist Leroy Laney leaves July 1. Laney is leaving to become a professor of economics and finance at Hawaii Pacific University.

Both banks have said they need to cut back to make their business as cost-effective as possible in light of the continuing stagnation of Hawaii's economy.