Pasadena, CA - January 24, 2007 - East West Bancorp, Inc. (Nasdaq: EWBC), parent company of East West Bank, one of the nation's premier community banks, today announced that its board of directors declared a quarterly common stock dividend of $0.10 per share for the first quarter of 2007. This represents an increase of $0.05 per share, or a 100 percent increase from the prior quarterly dividend of $0.05 per share. Accompanying the dividend increase, the Board also authorized a new stock repurchase program to buy back up to $30.0 million of the Company's common stock.

"In recognition of East West's consistent, strong performance, the Board of Directors has voted to double our dividend, increasing the annual dividend from $0.20 to $0.40 per share," stated Dominic Ng, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of East West. "The dividend increase, along with the $30.0 million authorization for stock repurchases, reflects our commitment to return capital to our shareholders and our confidence about the future of East West," concluded Ng.

The dividend will be payable on or about February 22, 2007 to shareholders of record on February 8, 2007.

About East West

East West Bancorp is a publicly owned company, with $10.8 billion in assets, whose stock is traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol "EWBC". The company's wholly owned subsidiary, East West Bank, is the second largest independent commercial bank headquartered in Los Angeles with 59 total branch locations. East West Bank serves the community with 58 branch locations across Southern and Northern California, one branch location in Houston, Texas and a Beijing Representative Office in China. For more information on East West Bancorp, visit the company's website at www.eastwestbank.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release may contain forward-looking statements, which are included in accordance with the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and accordingly, the cautionary statements contained in East West Bancorp's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2005 (See Item I -- Business, and Item 7 -- Management's Discussion and Analysis of Consolidated Financial Condition and Results of Operations), and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission are incorporated herein by reference. These factors include, but are not limited to: the effect of interest rate and currency exchange fluctuations; competition in the financial services market for both deposits and loans; EWBC's ability to efficiently incorporate acquisitions into its operations; the ability of EWBC and its subsidiaries to increase its customer base; the effect of regulatory and legislative action, including California tax legislation and an announcement by the state's Franchise Tax Board regarding the taxation of Registered Investment Companies; and regional and general economic conditions. Actual results and performance in future periods may be materially different from any future results or performance suggested by the forward-looking statements in this release. Such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this release. East West expressly disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements found herein to reflect any changes in the Bank's expectations of results or any change in event.