Nara, Center Merger Receives Final Regulatory Approval

Nara Bancorp Inc. and Center Financial Corp. said on Monday that they had cleared their last regulatory hurdle for their planned merger after they received approval from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

The Los Angeles-based received the go ahead from the California Department of Financial Institutions and the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco last week. The deal is expected to be completed by Nov. 30.

The $3 billion-asset Nara also said Monday that regulators have lifted certain informal enforcement actions that were imposed in late 2010, citing the bank's improved asset quality, profitability and capital ratios. The $2.3 billion-asset Center Financial said previously that it had terminated its informal memorandum of understanding with regulators.

The companies announced their plan to merge in December 2010 in a $286 million that deal would create the largest Korean-American-owned bank in the U.S.

Last week Nara announced it raised $63.3 million public offering to help it complete the deal and bolster its capital levels. It had initially intended to raise as much as $150 million, but increased profits in recent quarters allowed the company to scale back the offering.