Note 1 - Business

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2017

Notes to Financial Statements

Nature of Operations [Text Block]

1.

Business

Cathay General Bancorp (

“Bancorp”) is the holding company for Cathay Bank (the “Bank” and, together, with Bancorp, the “Company”),

seven

limited partnerships investing in affordable housing investments in which the Bank is the sole limited partner, Asia Realty Corp. and GBC Venture Capital, Inc. Bancorp also owns

100%

of the common stock of

five

statutory business trusts created for the purpose of issuing capital securities. The Bank was founded in

1962

and offers a wide range of financial services. As of

June 30, 2017,

the Bank operates

22

branches in Southern California,

12

branches in Northern California,

12

branches in New York State,

three

branches in Illinois,

three

branches in Washington State,

two

branches in Texas,

one

branch in Massachusetts,

one

branch in New Jersey,

one

branch in Maryland,

one

branch in Nevada,

one

branch in Hong Kong, and a representative office in Shanghai and in Taipei. Deposit accounts at the Hong Kong branch are

not

insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the “FDIC”).

On

July 14, 2017,

Bancorp

completed its acquisition of SinoPac Bancorp and its wholly owned subsidiary Far East National Bank, a U.S. federally chartered bank. Subsequent to the acquisition, on

July 17, 2017,

SinoPac Bancorp merged with and into Bancorp and Bancorp became the holding company for Far East National Bank. Far East National Branch was founded in

1974

and, as of

June 30, 2017,

operated

nine

branches in California and a representative office in Beijing. For additional information, see Note

18

to the Company’s unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements.