New local bank
hopes to open
by November

One of the investors behind
Pacific Rim Bank says consolidation
in the industry sparked his interest

Former Central Pacific Bank executive Austin Imamura said consolidation in the local banking industry during the past several years prompted him to start a new bank in Hawaii.

Imamura, who has been contemplating the idea for several years, has formed a group of local investors that is behind startup Pacific Rim Bank.

The new institution, which has filed federal and state banking applications, is scheduled to have a soft opening on Nov. 1 if all regulatory approvals are obtained, Imamura said.

"In 1990, we started off the decade with 26 financial institutions," said Imamura, who retired as executive vice president of Central Pacific three years ago. "When I retired in 2002, we had nine (institutions). So right now we've got a shortage and the economy's better and it's really the right time to start up. I believe there are other banks also entertaining the thought of entering the market, too."

Imamura, 58, said the bank will go after small and midsize businesses as well as individual consumers.

"We're not a business bank per se; we're a commercial bank," he said.

"A commercial bank can go after whatever it wishes. We'll basically go after all of those markets."

He said the bank will begin with 18 employees at its Restaurant Row location, and he expects there will be at least 20 workers by the end of the year.

The diversity of the bank's 10-member board of directors -- which includes executives from the local hotel, auto and construction industries -- will enable Pacific Rim to seek all types of business, Imamura said.

"In Hawaii, when you're a startup, you have to go after the clientele that's out there, and many of those have relationships with other banks," he said. "We plan to have some degree of networking. The board will contribute significantly to that from each of their industries."

Imamura, who served for two years as a special projects consultant at City Bank after he left Central Pacific, will be the chief executive officer as well as a director.

Kelvin Bloom, president of Aston Hotels & Resorts and one of the bank's investor-directors, said the idea of investing in a Hawaii bank appealed to him immediately. Bloom said he committed to the venture after conducting due diligence and meeting with executive officers of the bank.

"Personally, my investments have been in real estate on pretty much all of the islands," Bloom said. "I've lived in Hawaii for nearly 30 years, and nearly for that entire time period I've been very invested in the state. There appears to be a niche in the marketplace that Pacific Rim Bank and the visionaries of the bank have articulated to be able to fulfill."

Neither Imamura nor Bloom would disclose how much the investors have pledged to put in to the bank. But the bank's application states that the bank will have between $10 million and $12 million in capital when it opens.