EAST WEST BANCORP INC

To the Stockholders and Board of Directors

East West Bancorp, Inc.:

Opinion on the Consolidated Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of East West Bancorp, Inc. and subsidiaries (the Company) as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, the related consolidated statements of income, comprehensive income, changes in stockholders’ equity, and cash flows for each of the years in the three‑year period ended December 31, 2023, and the related notes (collectively, the consolidated financial statements). In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the years in the three‑year period ended December 31, 2023, in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.

We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2023, based on criteria established in Internal Control — Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission, and our report dated February 28, 2024 expressed an unqualified opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.

Basis for Opinion

These consolidated financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these consolidated financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the consolidated financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the consolidated financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Critical Audit Matter

The critical audit matter communicated below is a matter arising from the current period audit of the consolidated financial statements that was communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that: (1) relates to accounts or disclosures that are material to the consolidated financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. The communication of a critical audit matter does not alter in any way ouropinion on the consolidated financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matter below, providing a separate opinion on the critical audit matter or on the accounts or disclosures to which it relates.

Allowance for loan losses for loans evaluated on a collective pool basis

As discussed in Notes 1 and 6 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company’s allowance for loan losses (ALL) is established as management’s estimate of expected credit losses inherent in the Company’s lending activities. As of December 31, 2023 the ALL was $669 million, which includes the ALL for commercial loans evaluated on a collective pool basis (the commercial collective ALL). The ALL is the portion of the loan’s amortized cost basis that the Company does not expect to collect due to anticipated credit losses over the loan’s contractual life, adjusted for estimated prepayments. The Company measured the expected credit losses on a collective pool basis when similar risk characteristics existed. The December 31, 2023 commercial collective ALL included quantitative and qualitative components (together, the collective ALL). The Company developed and documented the collective ALL methodology at the portfolio segment level. The collective ALL methodology used various models and estimation techniques based on the Company’s historical loss experience, current borrower characteristics, which included internal risk ratings, current conditions, and reasonable and supportable macroeconomic forecasts. The commercial loan portfolio is comprised of commercial and industrial (C&I) and commercial real estate (CRE), which also included multifamily residential, and construction and land loans. The Company’s C&I lifetime loss rate model estimated credit losses by estimating a loss rate expected over the life of a loan which is applied to the amortized cost basis, excluding accrued interest receivables, to determine expected credit losses. The Company’s CRE projected probability of defaults (“PDs”) and loss given defaults (“LGDs”) are applied to the estimated exposure at default, considering the term and payment structure of the loan, to generate estimates of expected loss. The Company incorporated forward-looking information using macroeconomic scenarios, which included variables that are considered key drivers of increases and decreases in credit losses. A probability-weighted multiple scenario forecast over a reasonable and supportable forecast period is incorporated into both the quantitative models. The Company’s C&I lifetime loss rate model reverts to the historical average loss rate, expressed through the loan-level lifetime loss rate, after the reasonable and supportable forecast period. The Company’s CRE model considers the contractual life of the loans and the forecast of future economic conditions return to long-run historical economic trends within the reasonable and supportable period. In order to estimate the life of a loan under both quantitative models, the contractual term of the loan is adjusted for estimated prepayments based on historical prepayment experience. The Company also considered qualitative factors in determining the commercial collective ALL, if these factors have not already been captured by the quantitative model.

We identified the December 31, 2023 commercial collective ALL as a critical audit matter. A high degree of audit effort, including specialized skills and knowledge, and subjective and complex auditor judgment was involved in the assessment due to significant measurement uncertainty. Specifically, the assessment encompassed the evaluation of the collective ALL methodology, including an evaluation of the conceptual soundness and performance of the methods and models used to estimate (1) the quantitative component and its significant data elements and assumptions, which included portfolio segments, historic loss experience, reasonable and supportable forecast period, internal risk ratings, probability-weighted macroeconomic forecast scenarios, contractual term of the loan adjusted for estimated prepayments, and (2) the qualitative component. In addition, auditor judgment was required to evaluate the sufficiency of audit evidence obtained.

The following are the primary procedures we performed to address this critical audit matter. We evaluated the design and tested the operating effectiveness of certain internal controls related to the Company’s measurement of the collective ALL estimates, including controls over the:

•development of the collective ALL methodology

•continued use and appropriateness of changes made to the quantitative models

•performance monitoring of the quantitative models for the December 31, 2023 commercial collective ALL

•identification and determination of the significant data elements and assumptions used in the quantitative models

•development of the qualitative component

•analysis of the collective ALL results, trends, and ratios.

We evaluated the Company’s process to develop the collective ALL estimates by testing the models, significant data elements and assumptions that the Company used, and considered the relevance and reliability of such models, data, factors, and assumptions. We performed ratio and trend analysis over key ratios and peer comparison information relevant to the collective ALL. In addition, we involved credit risk professionals with specialized skills and knowledge, who assisted in:

•evaluating the Company’s collective ALL methodology for compliance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles

•evaluating judgments made by the Company relative to the assessment, conceptual soundness and performance testing of the quantitative models, which are based on historical loss experience by comparing them to relevant Company-specific metrics and trends and the applicable industry and regulatory practices

•evaluating the judgments made by the Company in selecting the macroeconomic forecast scenarios, including the reasonable and supportable period and the related probability-weighted macroeconomic forecast scenarios

•determining whether the loan portfolio is pooled based on loans with similar risk characteristics by comparing to the Company’s business environment and relevant industry practices

•evaluating risk ratings for a selection of collectively evaluated loans

•evaluating the conceptual soundness of the framework used to develop the qualitative factors and the effect of those factors on the collective ALL compared with relevant credit risk factors and consistency with credit trends and identified limitations of the underlying quantitative models.

We also assessed the sufficiency of the audit evidence obtained related to the collective ALL estimates by evaluating the:

•cumulative results of audit procedures

•qualitative aspects of the Company’s accounting practices

•potential bias in accounting estimates.

/s/ KPMG LLP

We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2009.

Los Angeles, California

February 28, 2024