Hanmi Financial Corp. in Los Angeles has withdrawn its application to participate in the Treasury Department's Troubled Asset Relief Program after conferring with its regulators.
The $3.9 billion-asset company said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing last week that the recession would limit its ability to use the government capital for lending. It also said any loan growth with interest rates this low would constrict its net interest margin.
For those reasons, the filing said, "the company is focusing on asset quality rather than growth."
At March 31, Hanmi's bank unit met the regulatory standards for being well capitalized, according to data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
But its loan troubles have been rising, the data showed The noncurrent loan ratio rose 202 basis points from a year earlier, to 4.71% of total loans. The chargeoff ratio rose 52 basis points, to 1.41%.
