LOS ANGELES, April 24, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Wilshire Bancorp, Inc. (Nasdaq:WIBC), the holding company for Wilshire State Bank, today announced that Sung Soo Han and Seung Hoon Kang have been promoted to key positions with executive responsibility within the lending and credit operations of the bank.
Wilshire named Executive Vice President Sung Soo Han as Chief Lending Officer. Previously he was the SBA Department Manager. In addition, Wilshire promoted Senior Vice President Seung Hoon Kang to be Chief Credit Officer. Previously he was Chief Credit Administrator.
"Our credit approval process and loan quality monitoring have improved over the past year and both Mr. Han and Mr. Kang were a big part of our success in so doing," stated Joanne Kim, President and CEO. "I am pleased to announce these promotions and to recognize their significant contributions, as well as their increasing levels of responsibility within our company. Both have been with Wilshire since early 2000 and have become aware of the lending needs of business throughout our footprint and have excellent track records."
Headquartered in Los Angeles, Wilshire State Bank operates 20 branch offices in California, Texas, New Jersey and New York, and seven loan production offices in Seattle, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Denver, Annandale, VA, and Palisades Park, NJ and is an SBA preferred lender nationwide. Wilshire State Bank is a community bank with a focus on commercial real estate lending and general commercial banking, with its primary market encompassing the multi-ethnic populations of the Los Angeles Metropolitan area. Wilshire Bancorp's strategic goals include increasing shareholder and franchise value by continuing to grow its multi-ethnic banking business and expanding its geographic reach to other similar markets with strong levels of small business activity.