Pacific Business Bank

East West Bancorp Inc. said Monday that it would buy Pacific Business Bank for $25 million in cash, the latest in a series of acquisitions of small-business lenders by the San Marino-based parent of East West Bank. Pacific Business, a four-branch, privately held bank based in Santa Fe Springs, is a lender to small manufacturing, service and distribution companies in Southern California. It has $165 million in assets and its retail clients, like those at East West, are mainly ethnic Chinese.

East West Bancorp Inc. said Monday that it would buy Pacific Business Bank for $25 million in cash, the latest in a series of acquisitions of small-business lenders by the San Marino-based parent of East West Bank. Pacific Business, a four-branch, privately held bank based in Santa Fe Springs, is a lender to small manufacturing, service and distribution companies in Southern California. It has $165 million in assets and its retail clients, like those at East West, are mainly ethnic Chinese.

James P. Robinson has been named executive vice president at Security Pacific National Bank. Robinson continues as managing director of the merchant bank's global trading department. Robert F. Edmonds and James E. Breslow have been named senior vice presidents in Security Pacific Business Bank.

Pacific Business Bank has donated $5,000 to the Assn. for Retarded Citizens-Southwest for its South Bay Special Olympics program, which offers year-round training in softball, basketball, bowling, and track and field. Athletes compete in local tournaments and go to the California state games every June. The money was raised when 120 golfers participated in the bank's annual charity golf tournament.

Security Pacific National Bank said Wednesday that it provided $65 million to finance Fluorocarbon Co.'s recent acquisition of the industrial polymers division of Eaton Corp. The financing consists of a $30-million term loan and a $35-million revolving credit line. Security Pacific Business Bank underwrote the entire amount. The bank said Rainier Bancorp. of Seattle will participate in the financing. Fluorocarbon, based in Laguna Niguel, manufactures rubber and plastic products.

Duncan Sillers, a retired fire and safety manager for Arco, has been elected president of the Carson Chamber of Commerce. Sillers, a resident of Carson for 30 years, is former president of the Carson High School Boosters' Club and has been a member of the chamber for 15 years. He replaces outgoing President J. Michael Leavitt. Newly elected directors of the chamber's board are Leon Bodnar, the Los Angeles County Fire Department; Clarance Braly, Southern California Edison Co.

Even after settling the libel suit between Carson City Council members Michael Mitoma and Sylvia Muise, the two sides disagreed about the terms. Mitoma, who sued Muise, said he got the apology that he wanted from her but little else. Muise, however, said Mitoma backed out of a suit that he never should have filed and knew he would lose. What is certain is that Muise disavowed implying in a political hit piece that Mitoma or Pacific Business Bank was involved in criminal activity.

A libel suit against Carson council members Sylvia Muise and Tom Mills and council candidates Aaron Carter and Leon Cornell moved a significant step closer to trial when a judge rejected a motion to throw out the case. The suit stems from the hard-fought council election of 1986, in which Michael Mitoma ran against Muise and Mills, who won. Mitoma won a council seat a year later in a special election.

Gardena residents and business owners interested in becoming more involved in the community are encouraged to apply for a new leadership training program sponsored by the Gardena Valley Chamber of Commerce. A seven-week course that begins May 10, Leadership Gardena 1994 seeks to develop business and community leaders by teaching participants about community needs and concerns and the resources available.

Carson Mayor Michael I. Mitoma borrowed at least $97,000 from three banking associates--one of whom he later nominated to the Planning Commission--but failed to disclose the loans on state-required statements of economic interest, according to court documents and interviews. Mitoma formerly headed Pacific Business Bank, and the loans came from three members of its board of directors while Mitoma was the bank's president and chairman from 1982 to 1989.