PASADENA - East West Bancorp Inc, parent company of East West Bank, announced Friday that it has acquired the banking operations of San Francisco-based United Commercial Bank in a Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.-assisted transaction.

Under the terms of the transaction, Pasadena-based East West will receive $10.4 billion in assets, including $7.7 billion in loans, and assume $9.2 billion in liabilities, including $6.5 billion in deposits of UCB. The FDIC and East West have entered into a loss sharing agreement covering substantially all acquired loans.

The attractive transaction creates the second largest independent bank headquartered in California and the largest bank in the nation focused on serving the Asian American community. East West, with more than $19 billion in assets, operates 137 branches worldwide, including 112 branches in California and 21 branches in key markets across the country, including New York, Atlanta, Boston, Houston, and Seattle.

East West operates four full-service branches in Greater China, including two branches in Hong Kong, and branches in Shanghai and Shantou. The bank also has representative offices in Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Shenzhen, China, and Taipei, Taiwan.

The Shanghai, China, subsidiary of United Commercial, was also part of the transaction. The agreement between the FDIC and East West Bank will not affect the normal business operation of UCB-China. East West Bank will extend support to UCB-China where necessary.

"This is a transformational event for both institutions and represents an exciting growth opportunity for East West," East West President and CEO Dominic Ng said. "East West and UCB share a rich cultural heritage. For East West, the transaction strengthens our presence in key markets throughout the U.S. and Asia and is another important milestone in realizing our vision to be recognized as the premier bridge between east and west."

On Thursday I posted a heartfelt take on the saga of the "balloon boy." At the time, the whole story had yet to come out, although in the heat of the moment it seemed fairly credible (stupid me). But as we all know, it turned out to be a hoax. The kid was never in the balloon and the whole thing was nothing more than Richard Heene's ploy to try to secure a TV reality show.

The only reality show Heene is likely to secure now might be called, "Richard Heene: How to Decorate an 8-by-10 Prison Cell."

Enough said.

But Thursday's coverage of Falcon Heene's journey - or at least what we all thought was a journey - was one of them.

The plot was simple but bizarre: An innocent 6-year-old boy climbs aboard his father's saucer-shaped helium balloon and said balloon lifts off into the sky. That's the account his older brother gave.

It turned out not to be true - luckily.

But for two hours and 50 miles I was on pins and needles, as I think millions of other Americans were. As the balloon made its way across two counties - powered by a jet stream that sent it spinning at times and dipping at others - the tension built.

And along the way, speculation grew that the boy may have fallen from the makeshift craft. That made the end of the journey all the more heart-wrenching when the balloon bumped gently down in a dirt field and the passenger compartment was found to be empty.

But as we all know, it turned out the boy was safe at home the whole time, hiding in a
cardboard box in the garage rafters. Hiding as 6-year-old boys are wont to do.

So what are we to take from all of this?

I really don't know. Maybe it's simply a message of what might have happened. Maybe we just need to realize that life matters - really matters.

So what's my business angle on this? I guess I don't have one. But I know I'm going to give my daughter a hug when I get home.   

Think about that for a minute.

Put down your TV remote (unless your're watching "Ice Road Truckers") and mull that one over. Because nothing much comes to mind for me. They tried to help U.S. banks by funneling scads of money to them in hopes that they'd begin giving out more loans again. But credit's still about as tight as it's ever been.

And then there's the government's strategy to provide big stimulus money for infrastructure projects throughout the nation. Well, I've yet to see much happening there either. But this Cash for Clunkers thing really took off.

The program, which ended Monday, offered car buyers rebates of $3,500 or $4,500 for trading in older vehicles for new, more fuel-efficient models. Ever notice how some of the best ideas are the simplest ones?

From the second it was announced, it was obvious were going to be lots of takers. And aside from the fact that the criteria was slightly tweaked early on - which prevented some vehicles from conforming to the government's "clunker" standards - this program went really well.

How well, you ask?

Transportation officials said through early Monday, dealers had submitted 625,000 vouchers totaling $2.58 billion. Yes, that's BILLION with a B. Dealers are still waiting to be paid for their participation in the program, and I have no doubt that they will be paid because this has given the auto industry - and our economy as a whole - a welcome boost.

So I say bravo! It looks like the government finally got something right.

On Thursday, some initial provisions of the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 kicked in. They're badly needed.

Specifically, credit card issuers are now required to notify customers 45 days -- instead of 15 days -- before changing interest rates or other significant terms of an account. They also must make sure customers have 21 days between the time statements are sent out and the payment is due, up from 14 days under existing rules.

Many of us lean too heavily on these small pieces of plastic, and if you use them too much it's pretty easy to dig yourself into a deep financial hole. Credit card companies have made matters worse by arbitrarily raising interest rates, charging hefty late fees and offering their products to students who have yet to learn how to manage their finances.

In essence, they're lying in wait, hoping we'll miss payment deadlines so they hike up their interest rates. And many consumers just aren't on top of this so they fall victim to late fees and a host of other problems.

Hopefully, the new rules will make a difference. But some card issuers have reportedly made an end run around the provisions by notifying everyone that their interest rates are now variable instead of fixed.

Go figure.

"That way they don't need to notify you each time the rates change, because they'll be changing all the time," said Babette Heimbuch, CEO of First Federal Bank of California.

Other provisions of the new legislation are set to take effect early next year. One says credit card companies will no longer be able to raise interest rates on existing balances if you've been paying on time. Another says they won't be allowed to raise rates the first year an account is open unless a time-limited promotional rate is explained up front, and a third will require these companies to review accounts every six months if they do hike rates, to see if they should lower them again.

This all sounds pretty good to me.

But consumers also need to take some responsibility and live within their means. That means you shouldn't be using a credit card to buy big-screen TVs you can't afford, or to take an expensive cruise to Alaska if that's far beyond your means.

I realize these companies have to make money just like the rest of us. I get that. But they shouldn't be allowed to impose punitive fees and policies on the very people who are using their products.

That's just ... un-American.