Hope Bancorp, Inc. (HOPE) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Hello, and welcome to the Virtual 2025 Annual Meeting of Stockholders of Hope Bancorp, Inc. Please note that this meeting is being recorded. [Operator Instructions] It is now my pleasure to turn today's meeting over to the company's Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer; Mr. Kevin S. Kim. Mr. Kim, the floor is yours.

Thank you. Good morning, fellow stockholders, ladies and gentlemen. It is my pleasure to welcome you to the Hope Bancorp, Inc. 2025 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. This year's annual meeting is being conducted solely online via a live webcast. Here with me today, we have our Chief Financial Officer, Ms. Julianna Balicka, Ms. Angelee Harris, our General Counsel; and Ms. Angie Yang, our Director of Investor Relations. On behalf of my colleagues on the Board of Directors, I would like to thank all of our stockholders, customers and those within our communities for your overwhelming trust and patronage throughout the years. Thanks to your gracious support we stand proud today as the only regional bank catering to multicultural customers across the Continental United States and Hawaii. Let me begin by introducing our Board of Directors. Mr. Dale Zuehls is our Lead Independent Director. He also chairs our Human Resources and Compensation Committee. Mr. Steven Koh is our Honorary Chairman. Mr. Donald Byun is an independent Director and Chair of our Bank Directors Loan Committee. Mr. Jinho Doo is an independent director. Ms. Daisy Ha is an independent director. Mr. Joon Kyung Kim is our Deputy Lead Independent Director and Chair of our Audit Committee. Ms. Rachel H. Lee is an independent director. Mr. David Malone is an Independent Director and Chair of our Board Risk Committee. Ms. Lisa Pai is an independent director. Mr. Scott Yoon-Suk Whang is an Independent Director and Chair of our Nomination and Governance Committee. All of these directors as well as myself, are standing for reelection to serve until our next annual meeting. Mr. William Lewis was an independent director who has served on our Board of Directors since 2014 and is retiring effective as of our annual meeting today. We thank him for his valuable contributions over the past 11 years and wish all the best in his well-deserved retirement. The composition of our direct nominees embodies a diverse group with a broad range of backgrounds and experience and professional acumen, that we believe will contribute to the effective decision-making, oversight and risk management that is required of our Board. And as a group, we are committed to serving the best interest of our company and its stockholders. Together with the leadership of our executive management team, I am confident in our ability to lead the company to a greater tomorrow. I would also like to recognize Mr. Cliff Hong and Mr. Kevin McNaney from Crowe, our independent registered public accounting firm; and Mr. Jordan Hamburger, and Mr. Eugene Choi from Sheppard Mullin, our external SEC Counsel, who are participating virtually. It is now 10:34 a.m. Pacific Time. And as a Chairman, President and CEO of Hope Bancorp, I would now like to call the Hope Bancorp 2025 Annual Meeting of Stockholders to order. At this point, I will ask Ms. Angelee Harris, who will serve as Secretary of this annual meeting to conduct the formal business of the meeting.

Thank you, Chairman, Kim. Please be advised that following the formal business of the company's 2025 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, we will conduct a question-and-answer session. As noted by the operator at the beginning of this meeting, you may submit questions or comments at any time by clicking on the message icon. Ms. Angie Yang has been selected by the Board to serve as the Inspector of Elections for the meeting. As such, Ms. Yang will count and certify the votes cast by proxy or in person via the Internet for the purpose of quorum and voting. It is currently 10:35 a.m. Pacific Time, and I declare that the polls are now officially open. We will close the polls in a few minutes when all online votes cast have been received and counted. Most of you have already voted online or sent in your votes by proxy. If you have no intention to change your vote, no further action is required. However, if you have not yet voted and wish to vote in person via the Internet at the meeting today, you may do so now by clicking on the link provided online. You must have logged in with your control number included in your notice or your proxy card to cast your vote online. If you wish to change your vote, you may also do so by clicking on the link provided online. The minutes of last year's annual meeting as well as the list of stockholders entitled to vote at this meeting are available to any stockholder that wishes to inspect either documents. To obtain access to either the minutes of the 2024 Annual Meeting or the list of stockholders for this meeting, please send an e-mail request to me at [email protected]. We have not received notice from any stockholders as required under our bylaws of any other matter that is required to be considered at today's meeting. Therefore, no other proposals may be properly introduced by stockholders at this meeting. It is now 10:37 a.m. Pacific Time, and the online polls for voting will now be closed. This meeting is being held pursuant to the call of the Board of Directors and the legal notice of the meeting, which was included as part of the notice of Internet availability of proxy materials and was delivered on or about April 11, 2025, along with the proxy card to each of our stockholders of record as of March 24, 2025, the record date for this year's annual meeting. A copy of the legal notice and the affidavit of mailing will be incorporated into the minutes of this meeting. All stockholders as of the meeting record date of March 24, 2025, are entitled to vote today. We now need to establish that there is a quorum to start this meeting. A quorum is established by the presence at the meeting, either by proxy or in person via the Internet of more than 50% of the outstanding shares. Ms. Yang, would you please report on the quorum?

Thank you, Ms. Harris. As the inspector of elections, I certify the following: the total number of outstanding shares as of March 24, 2025 and entitled to vote at this annual meeting is 120,610,029 shares. And the preliminary count of shares voting at this meeting, either in person via Internet or cast by proxy is at least 108,599,847 shares, representing approximately 89.7% of total shares outstanding and entitled to vote. Accordingly, we have a quorum for the transaction of business at today's meeting.

Thank you. Next, we will proceed with voting on each of the proposals that were described in the proxy statement. The first proposal is the election of directors. The director nominees elected at this meeting will serve on the company's Board until the 2026 Annual Meeting of Stockholders and until their successors are duly elected and qualified. Ms. Yang, please report on the votes for this proposal.

I certify that the following 11 director nominees have received the highest number of votes which account for an affirmative majority of votes cast. Mr. Kevin Kim, Mr. Dale Zuehls, Mr. Steven Koh, Mr. Donald Byun, Mr. Jinho Doo; Ms. Daisy Ha, Mr. Joon Kyung Kim; Ms. Rachel Lee, Mr. David Malone, Ms. Lisa Pai; and Mr. Scott Yoon-Suk Whang. Accordingly, all 11 director nominees have been elected to the Board of Directors to serve until the 2026 Annual Meeting of Stockholders.

Thank you, Ms. Yang. The second proposal is the ratification of Crowe LLP as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2025. Ms. Yang, please report on the votes for this proposal.

I certify based on preliminary reports from our tabulating agent, we received 107,828,451 votes in favor of Proposal 2 equaling approximately 99.3% of shares present and entitled to vote at this meeting. Accordingly, the selection of Crowe LLP has been ratified by the stockholders.

Thank you, Ms. Yang. The third proposal is an advisory and nonbinding approval of the compensation paid to our named executive officers as described in the proxy statement. Ms. Yang, please report on the votes for this proposal.

I certify that based on preliminary reports from our tabulating agent, 96,056,236 shares approved proposal 3, equaling approximately 94.7% of shares present and entitled to vote at this meeting. Accordingly, the stockholders have approved an advisory and nonbinding vote approving the executive compensation as described in the proxy statement.

Thank you, Ms. Yang. As there is no further business to be brought before the meeting, we will now adjourn the Hope Bancorp 2025 Annual Meeting of Stockholders at 10:42 a.m. Now I would like to turn it back to our Chairman, President and CEO, Mr. Kevin Kim; and our Chief Financial Officer, Ms. Julianna Balicka for the question-and-answer session, which will be moderated by Ms. Angie Yang.

Thank you, Ms. Harris. If you are a stockholder of Hope Bancorp, you may submit questions online by clicking on the Q&A tab in the upper right corner of the meeting center screen. We will wait just a moment for any questions. Chairman Kim, we have no questions submitted.

Thank you Ms. Yang. Since there are no questions, I would like to again thank you for joining us today for our 2025 Annual Meeting. We look forward to seeing you again at our next year's annual meeting.

This concludes the Hope Bancorp 2025 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. You may now disconnect.