BBCN was an acronym for Business Bank of Center and Nara.

[2] On February 15, 2013, the company acquired Pacific International Bancorp, the holding company for Pacific International Bank, a Washington state–chartered bank with four branches in the Seattle metropolitan area.

[3] In August 2013, the company acquired Foster Bankshares, Inc., and became the largest Korean American Bank in Chicago.

[5][6] In 2017, the bank almost acquired U & I Financial Corp, based in Seattle, but the acquisition was called off at the last minute.

[8] In late 2020, the Wall Street Journal reported that the bank faced over $3 billion of loans with payment deferrals or modifications due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which represented 170% of the bank's tier-1 capital.