Royal Bancshares of Narberth, Pa., whose customer base of Asian-American entrepreneurs has steadily increased over the past decade, jumped at the chance to hire a respected Korean-American banker and turn a niche activity into a full-fledged business.
On Monday the $1.15 billion-asset company unveiled "Royal Asian Bank" and said its first branch, in Philadelphia, is expected to open March 15.
Plans for the division, which will operate as part of Royal Bank of Pennsylvania, extend well beyond the state's borders. According to Royal Asian's president and chief executive, Edward E. Shin, the division will open two offices in northern New Jersey in the third quarter and is considering expansion opportunities in northern Virginia and California.
Mr. Shin, who joined Royal in January, was the president of PanAsia Bank of Fort Lee, N.J., from October 2002 until last September. That is when National Penn Bancshares Inc. of Boyertown, which had bought PanAsia in 2000, sold it to Korea's Woori Financial Group for $34.5 million. The Korean company then merged the $216 million-asset PanAsia into its Woori American Bank of New York.
At PanAsia and at National Penn's National Asian Bank before that, Mr. Shin focused on building market share in Korean and Asian communities in southeastern Pennsylvania and northern New Jersey. But his ambition has always been to build a national organization, and that is what he looks forward to doing at Royal.
"We have an aggressive plan of extending this franchise, not only on the East Coast but in California next year," Mr. Shin said.
As PanAsia's president he opened a loan production office in Annandale, Va., a Washington suburb. In addition, he says, he has solid connections in California.
Joseph P. Campbell, Royal's president and CEO, said his company decided to create the division on the strength of Mr. Shin's experience and his ties in Korean- American and other Asian-American business circles.
"He took our senior management on a tour of northern New Jersey last week, and when we got out of the car in Fort Lee it was like a reunion for him," Mr. Campbell said. "People were coming up to him to shake his hand and asking where he'd been. … He's known in the community, and his integrity is of the highest standard."
Royal has already received a $5 million application from one of Mr. Shin's former customers, Mr. Campbell said.
Royal's earnings rose 6% last year, to $18.5 million. It has set profit records for six consecutive years.
