Bank of Hawaii Delays Exit from American Samoa

A personal appeal from American Samoa's governor is holding up Bank of Hawaii's (BOH) plan to exit the territory.

The company has agreed to the delay after Gov. Lolo Moliga appealed to Peter Ho, Bank of Hawaii's chief executive, to give the U.S. territory time to find a new bank, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported. Following Moliga's request, Bank of Hawaii agreed to keep one of its two branches open through June 14, or a 90-day extension to the original plan to close it on March 15.

The bank's other branch on the territory will close as originally scheduled.

Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco will hold a public meeting in Honolulu next Tuesday to discuss the bank's plans to close its branches in the territory.

The $13.8 billion-asset Bank of Hawaii said in November that it would close the branches during the first quarter of 2013 to concentrate on its core markets of Hawaii and Guam, a decision that prompted outcry from the territory's residents and businesses. Following the exit, ANZ Bank, a unit of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, would become the only bank remaining.