UCBH Holdings Inc (fka UCBHQ)

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Nov. 7 (Bloomberg) -- UCBH Holdings Inc.’s United Commercial Bank, a San Francisco-based lender with $11.2 billion in assets, was seized by regulators, becoming the 120th U.S. bank to fail this year.

United Commercial was bought by East West Bancorp of Pasadena, California, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said. United Commercial was the fifth U.S. lender to be seized by regulators yesterday as banks fail at the fastest rate since 1992.

East West paid a premium of 1.1 percent to acquire United Commercial’s $7.5 billion in deposits, and picks up 63 U.S. branches as well as banking operations in China. East West said it is now the second-largest independent bank based in California, and the largest in the U.S. specializing in serving Asian-Americans.

“This is a transformational event,” East West Chief Executive Officer Dominic Ng said in the statement. “The transaction strengthens our presence in key markets throughout the U.S. and Asia.”

Banks are buckling under the weight of souring real estate loans caused by the worst recession in more than 25 years. The Labor Department said the unemployment rate rose to 10.2 percent in October, a 26-year high. Banks shut yesterday had total assets of $11.6 billion and deposits of $7.9 billion.

East West and the FDIC will share losses on $7.7 billion of assets. The agency agreed to share losses on other deals, including Ameris Bancorp’s acquisition of United Security Bank of Sparta, Georgia. Based in Moultrie, Georgia, Ameris paid a premium of 0.36 percent to purchase $150 million in deposits. The loss-sharing agreement covers $123 million of assets.