Nara Bancorp Settles Department of Justice Dispute

• Press Release
• Source: Nara Bancorp, Inc.
• On 5:41 pm EDT, Thursday October 1, 2009

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nara Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ: NARA - News) has agreed to resolve allegations raised by the Department of Justice regarding auto finance contracts entered into by consumers with certain third party auto dealerships. Nara Bank denies any wrongdoing but has cooperated with the Department of Justice to settle the dispute to avoid costly and protracted litigation.

Related Quotes

Symbol	Price	Change
NARA	10.25	-0.01

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The essence of the Department of Justice's claim is that third party car dealers charged excessive interest rates to their customers. Nara had no involvement in negotiating the interest rates charged by the dealers. The car dealers then sold these loans to various banks, including Nara Bank.

"Although Nara Bank strongly believes that it did not violate any law, we nevertheless thought that it was in the best interest of the bank to put this matter behind us," said John Hampton, Chief Risk, Compliance and CRA Officer. "Nara Bank has not purchased these types of loans since 2006," added Hampton.

"Nara Bank remains steadfastly committed to serving its customers in a fair and non-discriminatory manner," said Hampton.

About Nara Bancorp, Inc.

Nara Bancorp, Inc. is the parent company of Nara Bank, which was founded in 1989. Nara Bank is a full-service community bank headquartered in Los Angeles, with 21 branches and 1 loan production offices in the United States. Nara Bank operates full-service branches in California, New York and New Jersey, with a loan production office in Texas. Nara Bank was founded specifically to serve the needs of Korean-Americans, one of the fastest-growing Asian ethnic communities over the past decade. Presently, Nara Bank serves a diverse group of customers mirroring its communities. Nara Bank specializes in core business banking products for small and medium-sized companies, with emphasis in commercial real estate and business lending, SBA lending and international trade financing. Nara Bank is a member of the FDIC and is an Equal Opportunity Lender. For more information on Nara Bank, visit our website at www.narabank.com. Nara Bancorp, Inc. stock is listed on NASDAQ under the symbol "NARA."

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