Community West Bank Freed from OCC Order

Community West Bank in Goleta, Calif., has been released from a written agreement with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

The January 2012 agreement with the OCC required Community West to maintain a minimum 9% Tier 1 capital ratio and 12% total risk-based capital ratio. The $532 million-asset Community West, which is owned by Community West Bancshares (CWBC), was also required to address management deficiencies, increase board oversight, hire an independent firm to review its loan portfolio and revise its accounting for other real estate owned.

"The termination of our agreement with the OCC is an independent confirmation of the improvements we have achieved over the past two years," Community West President and Chief Executive Martin Plourd said in the release. "This important milestone substantiates that our efforts to reduce problem assets, document the allowance for loan losses and return to profitability have been successful. We still understand that there is continuing work ahead to further reduce problem assets, however, we believe we are now in an excellent position to move forward and grow our franchise."

Community West had a 12.06% Tier 1 leverage ratio and a 17.11% total risk-based capital ratio as of Sept. 30, according to a regulatory filing. It earned $6.3 million in the first nine months of 2013, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data.