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Consultant to
outline plans for
Native Hawaiian Bank

By Russ Lynch
Star-Bulletin

An independent banking consultant who also served for three years as a special trustee for American Indians will address a free public meeting at the state Capitol Tuesday on plans to set up a bank for native Hawaiians.

Paul Homan, whose 12 years in banking included top executive posts with mainland banks, has been working with Hawaiian groups on forming a special bank that would pool resources available to native Hawaiians and make loans to them for homes and other purposes.

Homan is also one of the nation's leading experts in the management of Indian trusts, said Kehaulani Filimoe'atu, president of Na Po'e Kokua, a native Hawaiian community development organization on Maui.

Filimoe'atu said a new nonprofit called Hawaiian Community Assets Inc. has been formed on Maui to help Hawaiians gain economic self-sufficiency. HCA will be part of a larger group of affiliated organizations that will include a bank owned and controlled by native Hawaiians, she said.

HCA's primary focus will be on native Hawaiians, she said, but it plans to expand its activities to help other native communities, such as American Indian tribes and Alaskan native villages. Bank of America also has been working with Hawaiian community groups in planning the bank. HCA and Na Po'e Kokua are sponsors of the 6 p.m. meeting in the Capitol auditorium.

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