Fair Money & Economic Opportunity

Cathay Bank's inclusion lending, comprising $497 million in low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) projects and $13.76 million in Community Homebuyers Program loans in 2021, totals $510.76 million.

This represents approximately 3.1% of its $16.3 billion loan book as of December 31, 2021. The bank committed $2.4 million in grants to 228 community organizations in 2021, which is approximately 0.8% of its $298.3 million net income. The bank offers basic financial education programs, including a Community Checking Account that requires completion of financial literacy education. It operates 60 branch outlets across 9 states and Hong Kong, with representative offices in Beijing, Shanghai, and Taipei. However, the bank's home mortgage loan operation represented only 25% of its overall lending portfolio as of year-end 2015. In 2021, 47.7% of small business loans were made to businesses with gross annual revenues of $1 million or less, falling short of its 50% commitment. The bank received a 'Satisfactory' CRA rating in June 2019 and was rated 'Satisfactory' by the FDIC in 2001. Examiners found no evidence of prohibited discrimination or other illegal credit practices at Cathay Bank or General Bank in 2003. However, in 2017, comments were received objecting to Cathay's CRA performance and record of meeting the credit needs of LMI, African American, and Hispanic individuals, and small businesses, with one commenter arguing the bank made a disproportionately small number of loans to LMI individuals and small businesses compared to peer institutions.

Fair Trade & Ethical Sourcing

The company holds general meetings with all types of suppliers every three years.

A CSR clause was added to supplier contracts in 2012, requiring compliance with regulations regarding employment conditions, workers' health and safety, environmental protection, and labor rights, but the percentage of suppliers covered by these clauses is not specified. The company launched a Vendor Diversity Program in 2018 to foster business opportunities for minority, women, LGBTQ, disabled, and veteran-owned companies, and awarded 26 green product suppliers in 2016, but no quantitative data on procurement spend directed to diverse suppliers is provided. As a financial institution, the company does not procure or trade physical commodities, making fair-trade certification not applicable.

Kind to Animals

Cathay General Bancorp operates as a commercial banking company, providing financial products and services.

The provided articles detail the company's ESG performance, climate action, and investment strategies, but do not contain any information related to animal welfare, cruelty-free practices, animal testing, animal-derived ingredients, or habitat destruction. Given the company's service-oriented business model, the KPIs related to animal products, testing, and direct habitat impact are not applicable.

No War, No Weapons

The provided article focuses on Cathay General Bancorp's general ESG data, including positive impacts in Societal Infrastructure, Taxes, and Distributing Knowledge, and negative impacts in Scarce Human Capital, GHG Emissions, and Waste.

However, it explicitly states that it "does not contain data relevant to 'No War, No Weapons' initiatives" and that "No specific regulatory actions, violations, fines, certifications, awards, comparisons to industry benchmarks, or contradictions are mentioned in relation to CATY's defense-related activities or No War, No Weapons initiatives." Therefore, no evidence is available to score any of the KPIs for this ethical value.

Safe & Smart Tech

Cathay General Bancorp's 2025 10-K filing states no significant data breaches, financial losses, or compromises have been reported to date, and recent reports confirm no recent security news or data breaches.

This indicates no breaches in the past 3 years, warranting a score of 20. The company also has no documented incidents of unauthorized data use. For regulatory compliance, the company states it complies with FFIEC Information Technology Examination Handbooks and Cybersecurity Assessment Tool, and monitors state-level cybersecurity laws, but does not provide details on exceeding basic compliance, placing it at a standard level (0). The company conducts annual intrusion and penetration testing by third-party experts, but the scope is not specified as a percentage of systems, which maps to the -70 tier for '25-40% of systems undergo regular security testing' due to the lack of comprehensive coverage details.