RBB President and CEO Resigns After Internal Investigation

Royal Business Bank’s (RBB) president and CEO Alan Thian has resigned effective immediately following an internal investigation.

Thian was placed on leave on February 22, 2022, with chief financial officer David Morris stepping in as acting CEO.

The investigation, carried out by an independent outside law firm and overseen by RBB’s directors, found that Thian had violated the bank’s policies and procedures, including those relating to personnel decisions. This had resulted in “adverse effects on officer and employee morale”, the bank said in a statement.

The bank stated that Thian’s violations did not have an overall adverse financial impact on the company.

RBB chairman James Kao said: “Our highly skilled workforce and experienced management team are confident that RBB Bancorp and Royal Business Bank will continue to deliver on their reputation for meeting and exceeding our customers' high standards for satisfying their loan, deposit, banking services, and other financial needs.

“This team has delivered growth while continuing to invest in people, product development, and production capabilities, and the company is well positioned to further deliver value to its stakeholders. We are committed to providing David Morris and his team with the resources they need to continue excelling.”

The departure follows that of chief lending officer Tammy Song, who exited RBB on February 15, according to Morris in an interview with equity analyst Andrew Ferrell of financial services firm Stephens.

In the interview, conducted on February 24, Morris also indicated that the changes in senior management at the bank could have an effect on RBB’s planned acquisition of California-based Gateway Bank, originally announced in December.

Morris told Terrell that regulators responsible for approving the deal “do not like sudden changes in management therefore it will make it harder for us to be approved”.