State grants approval to Ohana Pacific Bank
Ohana Pacific Bank, which plans to cater to the Korean community and small businesses in Honolulu, has received a key approval from the state Division of Financial Institutions.
Chief Executive Woon Hyun, a veteran banker with about 35 years of experience in Korea, Japan and the United States, said the financial institution plans to open Thursday at 1357 Kapiolani Blvd., Suite 102. The bank, which received state approval of its charter on Wednesday, still needs to obtain a Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. certificate, but Hyun said yesterday he expects to receive the documentation early next week.
"I'm really happy, and we're proud to finally open our bank to the community," Hyun said. "We are confident that we'll offer our shareholders a good return on their investment. We look forward to a long and happy partnership with small business in Honolulu."
Ohana Pacific will become the fifth state-chartered bank in Hawaii, following on the heels of Pacific Rim Bank, which opened in February in Restaurant Row. Other state-chartered banks are First Hawaiian Bank, Bank of Hawaii and Central Pacific Bank. Finance Factors, a financial services loan company, said earlier this month it was looking into changing its charter to a state charter and would hold a vote for its shareholders on June 7.
"My feeling about the community banks that have been recently chartered, Pacific Rim and now Ohana Pacific, is that this activity in the financial services industry is essentially based on the fact that in the past there's been a lot of consolidation and that, coupled with the robust economic conditions that we have now, has created a situation where community bank businesses feel that they can get in, start up and be successful," said Nick Griffin, commissioner of the state Division of Financial Institutions.
Ohana Pacific, which will have 12 to 15 employees, raised its proposed capital of $14 million in four weeks -- two weeks sooner than planned. Hyun said the bank has 250 investors, with no investor owning more than 5 percent of the stock.
Hyun said he feels there's a niche for Ohana Pacific.
"The market is totally different because we're initially focused on the Korean community and small business," Hyun said.
Hyun said the bank plans to have one ATM at its Kapiolani site, but the machine hasn't arrived yet. He said the bank will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday.
Among some of Ohana Pacific's 11 board members are retired City Bank executive Wayne Miyao; Roy Morihara, retired managing partner of Grant Thornton; retired Bank of Hawaii executive Marcy Fleming; Rex Kim, an attorney and president of the Korean Chamber of Commerce; and S. Ghon Rhee, a professor of international finance and banking at the University of Hawaii.
Besides the state-chartered banks, other Hawaii-based banks are American Savings Bank and Territorial Savings Bank, which are federally chartered savings banks, and Hawaii National Bank, a federally chartered national bank.