EAST WEST BANCORP INC

Market risk refers to the risk of potential loss due to adverse movements in market risk factors, including interest rates, foreign exchange rates, commodity prices, and credit spreads. The Company is primarily exposed to interest rate risk through its core business activities of extending loans and acquiring deposits. The Risk Oversight Committee of the Company’s Board of Directors has primary oversight responsibility and has given the ALCO the task of market risk management. The ALCO establishes guidelines, risk measures and limits, and monitors compliance with the policies and risk limits pertaining to market risk management activities.

Interest Rate Risk Management

Interest rate risk is the risk that market fluctuations in interest rates can have a negative impact on the Company’s earnings and capital stemming from mismatches in the Company’s asset and liability cash flows primarily arising from customer-related activities such as lending and deposit-taking. The Company is subject to interest rate risk because:

•Assets and liabilities may mature or reprice at different times. If assets reprice faster than liabilities and interest rates are generally rising, earnings will initially increase;

•Assets and liabilities may reprice at the same time but by different amounts;

•Short- and long-term market interest rates may change by different amounts. For example, the shape of the yield curve may affect the yield of new loans and funding costs differently;

•The remaining maturity of various assets or liabilities may shorten or lengthen as interest rates change. For example, if long-term mortgage interest rates increase sharply, mortgage-related products may pay down at a slower rate than anticipated, which could impact portfolio income and valuation; or

•Interest rates may have a direct or indirect effect on loan demand, collateral values, mortgage origination volume, and the fair value of other financial instruments.

The ALCO coordinates the overall management of the Company’s interest rate risk, meets regularly to review the Company’s open market positions and establishes policies to monitor and limit exposure to market risk. Interest rate risk management is carried out primarily through strategies involving the Company’s loan portfolio, debt securities portfolio, available funding channels and capital market activities. In addition, the Company’s policies permit the use of derivative instruments to assist in managing interest rate risk.

We measure and monitor interest rate risk exposure through various risk management tools, which include a simulation model that performs interest rate sensitivity analyses under multiple interest rate scenarios against a baseline. The simulation model incorporates the market’s forward rate expectations and the Company’s earning assets and liabilities. The Company uses both a static balance sheet and a forward growth balance sheet to perform the interest rate sensitivity analyses. The simulated interest rate scenarios include an instantaneous non-parallel shift in the yield curve and a gradual non-parallel shift in the yield curve (“rate ramp”). In addition, the Company also performs simulations using other alternative interest rate scenarios, including various permutations of the yield curve flattening, steepening or inverting. The Company uses the results of these simulations to formulate and gauge strategies to achieve a desired risk profile within its capital and liquidity guidelines.

The net interest income simulation model is based on the maturity and repricing characteristics of the Company’s interest rate sensitive assets, liabilities, and related derivative contracts. This model also incorporates various assumptions, which management believes to be reasonable but that may have a significant impact on the results. These key assumptions include the timing and magnitude of changes in interest rates, the yield curve evolution and shape, the correlation between various interest rate indices, financial instruments’ future repricing characteristics and spread relative to benchmark rates, and the effect of interest rate floors and caps. The modeled results are highly sensitive to deposit decay and deposit beta assumptions, which we derive from a regression analysis of the Company’s historical deposit data.

Simulation results are highly dependent on modeled behaviors and input assumptions. To the extent that actual behaviors are different from the assumptions used in the models, there could be material changes to the interest rate sensitivity results. The key behavioral models impacting interest rate sensitivity simulations include deposit repricing, deposit balance forecasts, and mortgage prepayments. These models and assumptions are documented, supported, and periodically back-tested to assess the reasonableness and effectiveness. The Company also regularly monitors the sensitivity of the other important modeling assumptions, such as loan and security prepayments and early withdrawal on fixed-rate customer liabilities. The Company makes appropriate calibrations to the model as needed and continually validates the model, methodology and results. Changes to key model assumptions are reviewed by the ALCO. Scenario results do not reflect strategies that the management could employ to limit the impact of changing interest rate expectations. The simulation does not represent a forecast of the Company’s net interest income but is a tool utilized to assess the risk of the impact of changing market interest rates across a range of interest rate environments.

The Company employs a variety of quantitative and qualitative approaches to capture historical deposit repricing and balance behaviors. These historical observations are performed at a granular level based on key product characteristics, including distinctions for brokered, public, and large commercial deposits, which are then combined with forward-looking market expectations and the competitive landscape to generate the deposit repricing and balance forecasting models. The Company uses these deposit repricing models to forecast deposit interest expense. The repricing models provide sufficient granularity to reflect key behavioral differences across product and customer types. The deposit beta is a key parameter of the deposit rate forecast. The deposit beta defines the sensitivity of deposit rates to changes in the Effective Fed Funds Rate (“EFFR”).

The Company recalibrated its deposit repricing models and betas in December 2022, and qualitatively increased the long run (through the cycle) betas during 2023 to better reflect increased competition and higher terminal fed funds rates than previously observed in the historical data. Overall, the Company observed a weighted-average increase of approximately 17% during the year to total deposit beta of 51% as of December 31, 2023. These increases reflected the Company’s forward-looking views of deposit rates given the expected EFFR at the time. The Company also modified deposit balance runoff models in December 2022, to better capture behavioral differences across product and customer types and carved out stable and non-stable balances to reflect the volatility and interest rate sensitivity of such deposit balances. The assumptions used for the identification of stable balances were updated in June and September 2023 to reflect a larger portion of potential non-stable balances. The assumptions for the identification of stable balances had no significant updates in December 2023.

Additionally, to reflect changes in interest expense due to the shift from noninterest-bearing to interest-bearing accounts in the deposit mix, the Company utilized a qualitative assumption in March 2023. This assumption considered the amount of surplus noninterest-bearing deposits assumed to be rate sensitive and migrated them to interest-bearing deposits. This assumption was included in the net interest income volatility simulations to reflect more realistic net interest income volatility in rising rate scenarios. The qualitative assumption was enhanced in June 2023 with a more robust quantitative approach. This updated approach incorporated internally observed historical data reflecting the evolution of noninterest-bearing deposits as a percent of total deposits, based on the historical behavior observed during the prior rising interest rate cycle. The assumption forecasts that a portion of noninterest-bearing deposits would migrate to interest-bearing certificates of deposits as the 12-month moving average of the overnight indexed swap rate increases. No further enhancements to the deposit mix assumption were made in December 2023.

In the net interest income simulations, the Company also makes assumptions on the yield related to the re-investment of investment securities and the yields on new loan originations. These assumptions are updated quarterly to reflect recent market conditions as well as forward-looking expectations but generally do not have significant impact to NII sensitivity. During 2023, loans and deposits with cash flows indexed to China related benchmark interest rates were removed from the interest rate scenario shocks. The associated change to the net interest income sensitivity was insignificant.

As loan and security prepayment assumptions are key components of the Company’s model, the Company incorporates third-party vendor models to forecast prepayment behavior on mortgage loans and securities which have mortgage loans as underlying collateral. These third-party vendor models have access to more comprehensive industry-level data which can capture specific borrower and collateral characteristics over a variety of interest rate cycles. The Company will periodically assess and adjust the vendor models when appropriate to include its own available observations and expectations. During 2023, the Company updated its version of the asset liability management simulation tool and vendor prepayment model. This change updated the calibration of the vendor model to better fit recent data and better supported the transition from London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) to Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”) indexed loans. Overall, the update had minimal impact on forecasted prepayments. During 2023, the Company updated the vendor prepayment model tuning factors to slow down prepayment speeds on single-family residential mortgages so that it better aligned with actual and expected prepayments.

During the third quarter of 2023, the Company replaced the U.S. dollar (“USD”) LIBOR Swap curve and rates with the respective SOFR Swap and SOFR reference rates. This change had a minimal impact on the overall results of net interest income and economic value of equity (“EVE”) simulations as the overall yields and discount rates were not impacted.

Twelve-Month Net Interest Income Simulation

Net interest income simulation modeling measures interest rate risk through earnings volatility. The simulation projects the cash flow changes in interest rate sensitive assets and liabilities, expressed in terms of net interest income, over a specified time horizon for defined interest rate scenarios. Net interest income simulations provide insight into the impact of market rate changes on earnings, which help guide risk management decisions. The Company assesses interest rate risk by comparing the changes of net interest income in different interest rate scenarios.

The following table presents the Company’s net interest income sensitivity related to an instantaneous and sustained non-parallel shift in market interest rates by 100 and 200 bps as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, on a balance sheet assuming flat forward rates and flat loan and deposit growth on the date of analysis. The non-parallel shift scenarios were calibrated internally based on historical analysis.

(1)The percentage change represents net interest income change over a 12-month period in a stable interest rate environment versus in the various interest rate scenarios.

The composition of the Company’s loan portfolio creates sensitivity to interest rate movements due to a mismatch of repricing behavior between the floating-rate loan portfolio and deposit products. In the table above, net interest income volatility expressed in relation to base-case net interest income decreased as of December 31, 2023. This decrease reflected updates to the deposit repricing assumptions and deposit product mix. Noninterest-bearing deposit account balances are assumed to be sensitive to interest rate levels and migrate to interest-bearing deposit accounts.

The Company also models scenarios based on gradual shifts in interest rates and assesses the corresponding impacts. These interest rate scenarios provide additional information to estimate the Company’s underlying interest rate risk. The rate ramp table below shows the net interest income volatility under a gradual non-parallel shift of the yield curve, in even monthly increments over the first 12 months, followed by rates held constant thereafter based on a flat balance sheet as of the date of the analysis.

As of December 31, 2023, the Company’s net interest income profile reflects a modestly asset sensitive position, where assets reprice faster or more significantly than liabilities. Net interest income is expected to increase when interest rates rise as the Company has a large population of variable rate loans, primarily tied to Prime and Term SOFR indices. The Company’s interest income is sensitive to changes in short-term interest rates. As of December 31, 2023, the Company designated interest rate contracts with a notional amount of $5.3 billion as cash flow hedges, which reduced net interest income volatility by approximately 1.6% of the base net interest income for every 100 bps change in interest rate.

The Company’s deposit portfolio is primarily composed of non-maturity deposits, which are not directly tied to short-term interest rate indices, but are, nevertheless, sensitive to changes in short-term interest rates. The modeled results are highly sensitive to modeled behavior and assumptions. Actual net interest income results may deviate from the model’s net interest income due to earning asset growth variation and deposit mix changes based on customer preferences relative to the interest rate environment. During a period of declining interest rates, balance sheet growth could offset headwinds to net interest income from yield compression.

Economic Value of Equity at Risk

EVE is a cash flow calculation that takes the present value of all asset cash flows and subtracts the present value of all liability cash flows. This calculation is used for asset/liability management and measures changes in the economic value of the bank’s assets and liabilities due to changes in interest rates.

The economic value approach provides a comparatively broader scope than the net interest income volatility approach since it represents the discounted present value of cash flows over the expected life of the instruments. Due to this longer horizon, EVE is useful to identify risks arising from repricing, prepayment and maturity gaps between assets and liabilities on the balance sheet, as well as from off-balance sheet derivative exposures, over their lifetime. This long-term economic perspective into the Company’s interest rate risk profile allows the Company to identify anticipated negative effects of interest rate fluctuations. However, the difference in time horizons can cause the EVE analysis to diverge from the shorter-term net interest income analysis presented above. Given the uncertainty of the magnitude, timing and direction of future interest rate movements, the shape of the yield curve, and potential changes to the balance sheet, actual results may vary from those predicted by the Company’s model.

The following table presents the Company’s EVE sensitivity related to an instantaneous non-parallel shift in market interest rates by 100 and 200 bps as of December 31, 2023 and 2022. The non-parallel shift scenarios were calibrated internally based on historical analysis.

(1)The percentage change represents net portfolio value change of the Company in a stable interest rate environment versus in the various interest rate scenarios.

As of December 31, 2023, the Company’s EVE is expected to decrease when interest rates rise. The change in EVE sensitivity was due to shorter deposit durations as a result of deposit modeling assumptions, slower prepayments on fixed-rate mortgages and mortgage-backed securities, and additional cash flow hedges to reduce net interest income volatility.

Derivatives

It is the Company’s policy not to speculate on the future direction of interest rates, foreign currency exchange rates and commodity prices. However, the Company periodically enters into derivative transactions in order to manage its exposure to market risk, primarily interest rate risk and foreign currency risk. The Company believes these derivative transactions, when properly structured and managed, provide a hedge against inherent risk in certain assets and liabilities or against risk in specific transactions. Hedging transactions may be implemented using a variety of derivative instruments such as swaps, forwards, options and collars. The Company uses interest rate swaps to hedge the variability in interest received on certain floating-rate commercial loans and interest paid on certain floating-rate borrowings. Foreign exchange derivatives are used in net investment hedging strategies to mitigate the risk of changes in the USD equivalent value of a designated monetary amount of the Company’s net investment in East West Bank (China) Limited. Prior to entering into any accounting hedge activities, the Company analyzes the costs and benefits of the hedge in comparison to alternative strategies. The Company also repositions its hedging derivatives portfolio based on the current assessment of economic and financial conditions, including the interest rate and foreign currency environments, balance sheet composition and trends, and the relative mix of its cash and derivative positions.

In addition, the Company enters into derivative transactions in order to accommodate its customers with their business needs or to assist customers with their risk management objectives, such as managing exposure to fluctuations in interest rates, foreign currencies, and commodity prices. To economically hedge against the derivative contracts entered into with the Company’s customers, the Company enters into offsetting derivative contracts with third-party financial institutions, some of which are cleared through central clearing organizations. The exposures from derivative transactions are collateralized by cash and/or eligible securities based on limits as set forth in the respective agreements between the Company and counterparty financial institutions. The fair value changes of the derivative contracts traded with third-party financial institutions are expected to be largely comparable to the fair value changes of the derivative transactions executed with customers throughout the terms of these contracts, except for the credit valuation adjustment component in the contracts and the spread variances between the customer derivatives and the offsetting financial counterparty positions. The Company also utilizes foreign exchange contracts that are not designated as hedging instruments to mitigate the economic effect of fluctuations in certain foreign currency on-balance sheet assets and liabilities, primarily foreign currency denominated deposits offered to its customers.

The Company is subject to credit risk associated with the counterparties to the derivative contracts. This counterparty credit risk is a multi-dimensional form of risk, affected by both the exposure and credit quality of the counterparty, both of which are sensitive to market-induced changes. The Company’s Credit Risk Management Committee provides oversight of credit risk and the Company has guidelines in place to manage counterparty concentration, tenor limits, and collateral. The Company manages the credit risk of its derivative positions by diversifying its positions among various counterparties, by entering into legally enforceable master netting agreements and by requiring collateral arrangements, where possible. The Company may also transfer counterparty credit risk related to interest rate swaps to third-party financial institutions through the use of credit risk participation agreements. Certain derivative contracts are required to be cleared through central clearinghouses, to further mitigate counterparty credit risk, where variation margin is applied daily as settlement to the fair value of the derivative contracts. In addition, the Company incorporates credit value adjustments and other market standard methodologies to appropriately reflect the counterparty’s and the Company’s own nonperformance risk in the fair value measurement of its derivatives. As of December 31, 2023, the Company anticipates performance by all its counterparties and has not incurred any related credit losses.

The following table summarizes certain information on derivative instruments designated as accounting hedges and utilized by the Company in its management of interest rate and foreign currency risks as of December 31, 2023 and 2022:

NA— Not applicable.

(1)Represents receive-fixed/pay-floating interest rate swaps and excludes interest rate collars. Floating rates paid are based on SOFR, or Prime.

(2)Represents receive-floating/pay-fixed interest rate swaps. Floating rate received was based on three-month LIBOR. The hedge was terminated during the first quarter of 2023.

(3)Excludes interest rate collars in total notional amount of $250 million as of both December 31, 2023 and 2022.

(4)Excludes forward-starting swaps in total notional amount of $1.0 billion, which were not effective as of December 31, 2023.

(5)Represents percentage between the notional of outstanding foreign exchange contracts and the net RMB exposure from East West Bank (China) Limited.

Additional information on the Company’s derivatives is presented in Note 1 — Summary of Significant Accounting Policies — Significant Accounting Policies — Derivatives, Note 2 — Fair Value Measurement and Fair Value of Financial Instruments, and Note 5 — Derivativesto the Consolidated Financial Statements in this Form 10-K.