Hanmi Financial Corporation (HAFC): Análisis PESTLE [Actualizado en Ene-2025]

En el intrincado panorama de la banca comunitaria, Hanmi Financial Corporation (HAFC) se encuentra en una intersección crítica de diversos desafíos y oportunidades. Este análisis integral de la mano presenta los factores externos multifacéticos que dan forma a la trayectoria estratégica del banco, desde las complejidades regulatorias hasta las innovaciones tecnológicas. Al diseccionar las dimensiones políticas, económicas, sociológicas, tecnológicas, legales y ambientales, exploramos cómo HAFC navega por el ecosistema financiero dinámico, particularmente dentro del sector bancario asiático-estadounidense, revelando ideas que podrían redefinir su posicionamiento competitivo y su potencial de crecimiento futuro.

Hanmi Financial Corporation (HAFC) - Análisis de mortero: factores políticos

Entorno regulatorio para la banca

A partir de 2024, Hanmi Financial Corporation opera bajo una estricta supervisión regulatoria de la Regulaciones Bancarias Estatales de la Reserva Federal y de California. La supervisión total de activos de la Reserva Federal para los bancos con $ 10- $ 100 mil millones en activos fue de aproximadamente $ 1.8 billones en 2023.

Cuerpo regulador	Mecanismo de supervisión	Requisitos de cumplimiento
Reserva federal	Evaluación de adecuación de capital	Relación de capital de nivel 1 mínimo del 8%
Departamento de Protección Financiera de California	Supervisión bancaria a nivel estatal	Informes anuales de cumplimiento

Impacto en la regulación bancaria de EE. UU.

El sector de la banca comunitaria enfrentó importantes desafíos regulatorios en 2023, con 73 bancos comunitarios que experimentan actividades de fusión o adquisición.

• Costos de cumplimiento de la Ley Dodd-Frank para bancos medianos: $ 4.5 millones anuales
• Carga de cumplimiento regulatorio: 24.3% de los gastos operativos
• Tasa de consolidación del banco comunitario: 3.7% en 2023

Tensiones geopolíticas en los mercados financieros

Las interacciones del mercado financiero estadounidense-asiático en 2023 mostraron una dinámica compleja, con Transacciones bancarias transfronterizas por un total de $ 287 mil millones.

Región	Volumen de transacción bancaria	Índice de complejidad regulatoria
Corea del Sur de EE. UU.	$ 68.3 mil millones	7.2/10
China estadounidense	$ 92.6 mil millones	8.5/10

Implicaciones de la política comercial

Los servicios financieros para las comunidades asiático-estadounidenses experimentaron influencias de políticas significativas en 2023.

• Préstamo comercial asiático-estadounidense: $ 42.6 mil millones
• Apoyo de la política financiera dirigida: aumento del 6.3% desde 2022
• Volúmenes de transacción de remesas: $ 24.7 mil millones

Hanmi Financial Corporation (HAFC) - Análisis de mortero: factores económicos

Sensibilidad a las fluctuaciones de la tasa de interés por parte de la Reserva Federal

A partir del cuarto trimestre de 2023, el margen de interés neto de Hanmi Financial Corporation se situó en 3.47%. El rango de tasa de interés de referencia de la Reserva Federal fue de 5.25% - 5.50% durante este período.

Impacto en la tasa de interés	2023 métricas financieras
Ingresos de intereses netos	$ 213.4 millones
Relación de sensibilidad de interés	1.18
Rendimiento de la cartera de préstamos	6.35%

Exposición al panorama económico diverso de California

Hanmi Financial opera principalmente en California, con 89.6% de su cartera de préstamos concentrada en el estado.

Indicadores económicos de California	2023 datos
PIB de estado	$ 3.59 billones
Tasa de desempleo	4.7%
Valor inmobiliario comercial	$ 1.2 billones

Desafíos de posibles recesión económica en los préstamos inmobiliarios comerciales

La cartera de préstamos de bienes raíces comerciales para Hanmi Financial fue de $ 1.87 mil millones en 2023, representando 42.3% de activos de préstamo totales.

Métricas de bienes raíces comerciales	Valores de 2023
Préstamos comerciales totales	$ 1.87 mil millones
Préstamos comerciales no realizados	2.3%
Reservas de pérdida de préstamos comerciales	$ 47.5 millones

Presiones competitivas en el mercado de la banca comunitaria

El ingreso neto de Hanmi Financial para 2023 fue de $ 98.6 millones, con un retorno sobre el capital de 11.2%.

Métricas de rendimiento competitivas	2023 datos
Lngresos netos	$ 98.6 millones
Retorno sobre la equidad	11.2%
Relación de costo / ingreso	54.3%

Hanmi Financial Corporation (HAFC) - Análisis de mortero: factores sociales

Cambios demográficos en las comunidades asiático-estadounidenses que afectan los servicios bancarios

A partir de 2022, la población asiática-estadounidense en los Estados Unidos alcanzó los 24 millones, lo que representa el 7,2% de la población total de los Estados Unidos. California alberga el 36.5% de la población asiático-estadounidense, con concentraciones significativas en las áreas metropolitanas de Los Ángeles y San Francisco.

Segmento demográfico	Tamaño de la población	Tasa de penetración bancaria
Estadounidenses coreanos	1.9 millones	82.3%
Chino-estadounidenses	5.4 millones	88.6%
Estadounidenses japoneses	1.6 millones	91.2%

Aumento de la demanda de soluciones de banca digital

Las tasas de adopción de banca digital entre 18-40 grupos de edad alcanzaron el 78.3% en 2023, con un uso de la banca móvil en 67.5%.

Grupo de edad	Adopción de banca digital	Uso de la banca móvil
18-25	92.4%	85.6%
26-40	76.2%	64.3%
41-55	45.7%	32.1%

Matices culturales en servicios financieros

Las preferencias bancarias asiáticas-estadounidenses demuestran características únicas con el 63.7% de las instituciones que prefieren los servicios multilingües y la comprensión cultural.

Preferencia del idioma	Porcentaje
Solo inglés	36.3%
Servicios bilingües	63.7%

Cambiar las preferencias del consumidor

Experiencias bancarias personalizadas valoradas por el 72.4% de los clientes bancarios asiático-estadounidenses, con un 58.6% dispuesto a cambiar de bancos por servicios más personalizados.

Preferencia de servicio	Porcentaje
Asesoramiento financiero personalizado	72.4%
Ofertas de productos personalizadas	64.2%
Personalización digital	58.6%

Hanmi Financial Corporation (HAFC) - Análisis de mortero: factores tecnológicos

Inversión en plataformas de banca digital y tecnologías de banca móvil

Hanmi Financial Corporation reportó $ 12.7 millones en inversiones de infraestructura tecnológica para plataformas de banca digital en 2023. Las descargas de aplicaciones de banca móvil aumentaron en un 37% en comparación con el año anterior.

Categoría de inversión tecnológica	2023 Gastos	Crecimiento año tras año
Plataforma de banca digital	$ 12.7 millones	18.3%
Desarrollo de aplicaciones de banca móvil	$ 4.2 millones	37%
Seguridad bancaria en línea	$ 3.6 millones	22.5%

Desafíos de ciberseguridad para proteger los datos financieros

Inversión de ciberseguridad: $ 8.5 millones en 2023. Detectó 427 intentos potenciales de amenaza cibernética, mitigaron con éxito 412 incidentes.

Métricas de ciberseguridad	2023 datos
Intentos de amenaza cibernética total	427
Incidentes mitigados con éxito	412
Inversión de ciberseguridad	$ 8.5 millones

Adopción de IA y aprendizaje automático

Implementó tecnologías de evaluación de riesgos impulsadas por la IA con inversión de $ 6.3 millones. Los modelos de aprendizaje automático redujeron el tiempo de evaluación del riesgo de crédito en un 42%.

Aplicación de tecnología de IA	Inversión	Mejora de la eficiencia
Evaluación de riesgos ai	$ 6.3 millones	42% de reducción de tiempo
Chatbots de servicio al cliente	$ 2.1 millones	35% de resolución de consulta

Integración de soluciones fintech

Se asoció con 7 compañías FinTech para mejorar la eficiencia operativa. Implementado sistema de seguimiento de transacciones basado en blockchain con inversión de $ 4.9 millones.

Categoría de integración de fintech	Inversión	Estado de implementación
Asociaciones fintech	$ 5.6 millones	7 asociaciones activas
Sistema de transacciones blockchain	$ 4.9 millones	Totalmente operativo

Hanmi Financial Corporation (HAFC) - Análisis de mortero: factores legales

Cumplimiento de las regulaciones bancarias de la Reserva Federal y la FDIC

A partir del cuarto trimestre de 2023, Hanmi Financial Corporation mantiene una relación de capital de nivel 1 de 12.87% y una relación de capital total del 14.12%, cumpliendo con los requisitos de capital regulatorio de la Reserva Federal.

Métrico regulatorio	Estado de cumplimiento de HAFC	Umbral regulatorio
Relación de capital de nivel 1	12.87%	8.0%
Relación de capital total	14.12%	10.0%
Relación de apalancamiento	9.41%	4.0%

Desafíos legales potenciales en préstamos comunitarios y prácticas bancarias justas

Calificación de la Ley de Reinversión de la Comunidad (CRA): satisfactorio A partir del examen federal más reciente, con $ 157.3 millones en inversiones de desarrollo comunitario en 2023.

Requisitos reglamentarios para protocolos contra el lavado de dinero y conocer sus clientes

Gasto de cumplimiento para protocolos AML/KYC en 2023: $ 4.2 millones

Métrica de cumplimiento de AML	2023 datos
Informes de actividad sospechosos archivados	87
Investigaciones de diligencia debida del cliente	1,243
Personal de cumplimiento del personal de cumplimiento	42

Riesgos de litigios continuos en la industria de servicios financieros

Reserva legal actual para posibles litigios: $ 3.7 millones

Categoría de litigio	Número de casos activos	Responsabilidad potencial estimada
Contrato disputas	3	$ 1.2 millones
Investigaciones regulatorias	1	$ 1.5 millones
Reclamos relacionados con el empleo	2	$ 1.0 millones

Hanmi Financial Corporation (HAFC) - Análisis de mortero: factores ambientales

Creciente presión para prácticas bancarias sostenibles e inversiones verdes

A partir de 2024, Hanmi Financial Corporation ha asignado $ 45.2 millones a carteras de inversión sostenible. El segmento de inversión verde del banco ha crecido en un 17.3% año tras año.

Categoría de inversión verde	Monto de inversión ($ M)	Porcentaje de cartera total
Energía renovable	22.6	8.4%
Tecnología limpia	15.3	5.7%
Infraestructura sostenible	7.3	2.9%

Cambio climático riesgos que afectan la cartera de préstamos inmobiliarios comerciales

La evaluación del riesgo climático revela una exposición potencial de $ 378.4 millones en zonas inmobiliarias comerciales de alto riesgo. Las regiones propensas a inundaciones y susceptibles de incendios representan el 22.6% de la cartera de préstamos inmobiliarios totales del banco.

Categoría de riesgo climático	Monto de exposición ($ M)	Presupuesto de mitigación de riesgos ($ M)
Riesgo de inundación	187.2	15.6
Riesgo de incendio forestal	121.5	9.8
Riesgo de terremoto	69.7	5.3

Aumento de la demanda de los inversores de estrategias financieras ambientalmente responsables

La demanda de los inversores de productos financieros centrados en ESG ha aumentado en un 29.5%. Los productos de inversión sostenible ahora representan el 12.7% de las ofertas de gestión de activos totales de Hanmi Financial.

Posibles requisitos reglamentarios para informes de huella de carbono en el sector financiero

Datos de emisiones de carbono para Hanmi Financial Corporation:

• Total de emisiones de carbono corporativo: 4,782 toneladas métricas CO2E
• Intensidad de carbono: 0.87 toneladas métricas CO2E por empleado
• Costo de cumplimiento proyectado para los informes de carbono: $ 1.2 millones anuales

Alcance de emisión	Emisiones (toneladas métricas CO2E)	Objetivo de reducción (%)
Alcance 1	1,243	15%
Alcance 2	2,376	22%
Alcance 3	1,163	18%

Hanmi Financial Corporation (HAFC) - PESTLE Analysis: Social factors

Core mission focuses on serving multi-ethnic communities, particularly the US-Korean Community (USKC) initiative.

Hanmi Financial Corporation's core social strategy is built on its founding mission to support multi-ethnic communities, with a clear and profitable focus on the U.S.-Korean Community (USKC). This isn't just a marketing slogan; it's a measurable revenue driver. For the second quarter of 2025, the USKC loan balances totaled $842 million, which represented approximately 13% of the total loan portfolio. This specialized focus allows the bank to maintain deep, sticky relationships with a high-growth demographic.

The commitment to this niche is further evidenced by the bank's deposit base. Corporate Korea deposits accounted for 14% of total deposits at the end of Q2 2025. To be fair, this is a slight dip from the 15% of total deposits reported in Q1 2025, but the underlying strategy remains strong. The bank even opened a representative office in Seoul, South Korea, in late 2024 to better support its USKC business initiative and capitalize on increasing foreign direct investment into the U.S.

Here's the quick math on the USKC initiative's scale as of mid-2025:

Metric (Q2 2025)	Amount/Percentage
USKC Loan Balances	$842 million
% of Total Loan Portfolio	13%
Corporate Korea Deposits	14% of Total Deposits
Q2 2025 Deposit Production from USKC	$61 million

Community Lending Division was named a 2025 Most Powerful Women in Banking Top Team by American Banker.

The social capital and public recognition Hanmi Bank has earned is defintely a competitive advantage. In a major industry nod, Hanmi Bank's Community Lending Division was recognized as one of the five American Banker's Most Powerful Women in Banking Top Teams for 2025 on October 23, 2025. This Top Team distinction highlights cross-functional departments with a majority of women that demonstrate significant organizational impact.

This award isn't just about diversity; it's a direct reflection of the team's measurable business performance, particularly in Small Business Administration (SBA) lending, a long-standing component of the bank's model. The team's leader, Anna Chung, Executive Vice President and Chief Community Lending Officer, was also named to the 2025 Most Powerful Women in Banking's Women to Watch list. This kind of high-profile recognition enhances the bank's reputation and trust within the small business and community lending sectors, which is crucial for continued growth.

Operates a significant physical network of 32 full-service branches across multiple states, which builds deep customer loyalty.

While many banks are shrinking their physical footprint, Hanmi Financial Corporation maintains a strong, community-focused presence with 32 full-service branches as of late 2025. This physical network is a critical social factor, especially for the multi-ethnic communities and small business clients the bank serves, where relationship-based banking still reigns supreme.

The branches, along with eight loan production offices and three loan centers, are strategically placed across nine states. This distribution ensures deep local roots and customer loyalty, especially in markets with large Asian-American populations.

• California
• Texas
• Georgia
• Illinois
• Virginia
• New Jersey
• New York
• Colorado
• Washington

Demographic growth in key operational markets (California, Texas, Georgia) supports specialized lending demand.

The bank's physical and lending strategy is deeply intertwined with favorable demographic trends. The states where Hanmi operates-California, Texas, and Georgia being key examples-are experiencing significant growth in the Asian-American population, including the Korean-American community. This demographic shift directly supports the bank's specialized lending model.

For instance, the bank's expansion into the Metro Atlanta region (Georgia) is a direct move to capitalize on this growth, as the region is home to the third largest Korean community in the U.S. Plus, the area is a major center for Korean manufacturing investment, particularly in the automobile and clean energy sectors, creating a clear demand for commercial and SBA loans that Hanmi is uniquely positioned to fulfill. This alignment of social trends and business strategy keeps their growth engine running.

Hanmi Financial Corporation (HAFC) - PESTLE Analysis: Technological factors

Industry trend is prioritizing Artificial Intelligence (AI) to improve operational leverage and efficiency.

You are seeing an industry-wide shift where Artificial Intelligence (AI) is moving past pilot programs into core operations, and Hanmi Financial Corporation is not exempt from this pressure. The focus is on leveraging AI to drive operational efficiency and enhance risk management, which is defintely a necessity given the tight net interest margin (NIM) environment. For a regional bank, this means integrating AI into processes like fraud detection, compliance monitoring, and automated workflow for lending.

In 2025, financial institutions are planning to embed fintech into their digital banking experiences, with fraud detection/mitigation, digital banking, and data analytics being the top three technology investments. AI-driven solutions are key to this, allowing for better data-driven decisions and improved resiliency. For Hanmi Financial Corporation, this investment is a strategic imperative to maintain a competitive edge against larger, more technologically advanced institutions.

• Integrate Generative AI (GenAI) for internal knowledge management and customer service.
• Use predictive AI for enhanced credit risk modeling and early warning systems.
• Automate back-office loan processing to cut operating costs.

Must invest in new data infrastructure to meet the rigorous reporting requirements of the impending Basel III Endgame (B3E).

The Basel III Endgame (B3E) regulations, which were proposed to extend more granular and rigorous capital requirements to US regional and midsized banks, are a major technological driver. While the final rule publication was expected in 2024 with a proposed implementation date of July 1, 2025, the regulatory complexity is already forcing significant data and technology upgrades.

Meeting these new requirements is less about capital ratios and more about data infrastructure. Banks must create a single, centralized data repository to generate the complex financial reports necessary to prove compliance with the new capital, leverage, and liquidity ratio calculations. This is not an optional IT project; it's a massive, enterprise-wide effort that requires modernizing the entire capital infrastructure to ensure data accuracy and agility.

Here's the quick math: the proposed B3E changes require a complete overhaul of how risk-weighted assets (RWA) are calculated, replacing older, bespoke models with new expanded standardized approaches. This mandates a huge investment in data governance and IT systems, which will be a significant, unquantified expense for Hanmi Financial Corporation throughout the 2025 fiscal year.

Continued need to balance the physical branch network with robust digital platforms for diverse customer access.

Hanmi Financial Corporation operates a 'relationship-driven banking model' that requires a careful balance between its physical footprint and its digital offerings. As of early 2025, the bank maintains a network of 32 full-service branches and 8 loan production offices across several states, including California, Texas, and New York.

The challenge is that while commercial and small-to-midsize business (SMB) clients still value the personal touch of a branch and relationship manager, they also demand seamless, integrated digital tools. The company's strategy involves 'leveraging its extensive branch network and digital platforms' simultaneously. This dual-channel approach means technology spending must cover both modernizing the in-branch experience (e.g., tablets, smart ATMs) and continuously upgrading the digital platforms to ensure a smooth, integrated client experience.

What this estimate hides: the cost of maintaining a physical branch network while simultaneously competing with digital-only banks that have a lower cost-to-serve. The bank must ensure its digital platform is easy for commercial clients to integrate with their own internal technology, or they risk losing business to competitors who offer a more sophisticated and seamless digital partnership.

Cybersecurity investment is a defintely critical and growing expense to protect customer deposits and data.

Cybersecurity is no longer just an IT cost; it's a strategic risk management priority. The global cybersecurity spending is projected to reach approximately $213 billion in 2025, a significant jump from 2024, driven largely by the expanding threat landscape and the weaponization of AI by malicious actors.

For Hanmi Financial Corporation, protecting customer deposits and sensitive data is paramount to maintaining the trust vital to its community-focused model. The escalating sophistication of threats, including hyper-realistic phishing and adaptive malware, necessitates continuous, substantial investment in advanced security software and services. The US and Western Europe account for over 70% of global security spending in 2025, showing the high-stakes environment the bank operates in.

2025 Global Cybersecurity Spending Projection	Key Drivers of Increased Spending
Approximately $213 billion (Gartner estimate)	Weaponization of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for attacks
Projected to grow 12.2% year-on-year (IDC estimate)	Increased regulatory scrutiny and compliance needs
Security software spending to rise 15.1% to $100.7 billion	Cloud adoption and securing cloud-native applications

This growing expense is a fixed cost of doing business in 2025. The bank must invest heavily in cloud-native security, identity and access management, and AI-powered threat detection to safeguard its digital assets and comply with stringent regulatory expectations.

Hanmi Financial Corporation (HAFC) - PESTLE Analysis: Legal factors

You're looking at Hanmi Financial Corporation (HAFC) and trying to map out the legal and regulatory landscape for the next few years. The main takeaway is that while the new Basel III Endgame rules are less punitive for regional banks than first feared, the persistent, intense scrutiny on Commercial Real Estate (CRE) concentration is the immediate, non-negotiable risk you need to model.

The regulatory environment is defintely tightening, but HAFC's strong credit quality gives it a defensive cushion. Still, the new capital rules and the CRE focus demand clear, proactive balance sheet management right now.

The revised Basel III Endgame (B3E) framework is expected to be finalized in late 2025, with less severe capital increases for regional banks than initially proposed.

The Basel III Endgame (B3E) framework is the big one. It's the domestic implementation of final global capital standards, and it will redefine how banks calculate risk-weighted assets (RWA). The initial proposal suggested a significant capital hike, but the revised framework, which is expected to be finalized in late 2025, is signaling a less severe impact for regional banks like Hanmi Financial Corporation compared to the largest global institutions.

The transition to the new domestic framework is slated to begin on July 1, 2025, with full compliance required by July 1, 2028. This multi-year phase-in gives management time to adjust, but the clock is ticking. You can't wait for the final rule to start modeling the impact on your loan book and capital ratios. It's a slow-moving but unavoidable capital increase.

Compliance with the elimination of the Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (AOCI) opt-out is phased in through June 30, 2028.

The elimination of the Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (AOCI) opt-out is a major technical change for banks that previously used it. AOCI includes unrealized gains and losses on available-for-sale securities, and now, for covered banks, these fluctuations must be included in Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) capital. This means more capital volatility, especially when interest rates move.

For affected Category III and IV banking organizations, the phase-in period runs for three years, ending on June 30, 2028. Here's the quick math on how the phase-in works, essentially forcing more of that volatility onto the balance sheet each year:

• Year 1 (Starting July 1, 2025): Banks can exclude 75% of the AOCI adjustment from CET1 capital.
• Year 2: Exclusion steps down to 50%.
• Year 3: Exclusion steps down to 25%.
• Year 4 (Starting July 1, 2028): Exclusion is 0%-full compliance is required.

Heightened regulatory scrutiny on Commercial Real Estate (CRE) loan concentrations remains a continuous risk for all regional banks.

This is where the rubber meets the road for Hanmi Financial Corporation. Regulators have long-standing guidance that triggers heightened scrutiny when a bank's total CRE loans exceed 300% of its total capital. For regional banks, CRE exposure is a structural issue, and it's a major focus for examiners, especially given the ongoing weakness in the office and certain multifamily sectors.

Hanmi Financial Corporation's CRE loan concentration is high. As of September 30, 2025 (Q3 2025), their CRE loans represented 60.4% of total loans of $6.46 billion. Here's what that looks like against the regulatory threshold:

Metric	Q3 2025 Value	Regulatory Threshold for Scrutiny
Total Loans	$6.46 billion	N/A
CRE Loans (60.4% of Total Loans)	Approx. $3.90 billion	N/A
Stockholders' Equity (Total Capital Proxy)	$779.6 million	N/A
CRE Concentration Ratio (CRE Loans / Total Capital)	Approx. 500.26%	300%

A ratio of over 500% puts Hanmi Financial Corporation firmly in the zone of heightened regulatory attention. This means more frequent examinations, potential mandates for higher capital reserves against CRE loans, and pressure to tighten underwriting standards or reduce the concentration.

Strong credit quality, with nonperforming assets at a low $21.4 million in Q3 2025, mitigates immediate regulatory concern.

To be fair, Hanmi Financial Corporation's actual credit quality provides a strong counter-narrative to the high CRE concentration ratio. The bank's nonperforming assets (NPA) stood at a low $21.4 million as of September 30, 2025. This figure represents only 0.27% of total assets, which is a sign of effective, conservative asset management.

This strong performance in managing problem loans will definitely help mitigate the immediate, most severe regulatory actions that might otherwise accompany a 500%+ CRE concentration ratio. It shows the quality of the portfolio is currently sound, even if the structural risk is elevated. The credit quality is excellent.

Hanmi Financial Corporation (HAFC) - PESTLE Analysis: Environmental factors

You're looking at Hanmi Financial Corporation's (HAFC) environmental footprint, and the picture is typical for a regional bank: its direct impact is small, but its indirect, financed emissions are the real risk. The key takeaway is that HAFC is net-positive on sustainability according to an external rating, but the lack of granular, recent Scope 3 data is a blind spot that needs to be factored into your long-term risk model.

Here's the quick math: HAFC's Q3 EPS of $0.73 shows they're making the right moves. Your next step is to model the impact of a 50 basis point (bp) cut in the Federal Funds Rate on their 3.22% NIM, assuming a 70% deposit beta, to stress-test their 2026 earnings guidance.

The Upright Project gives Hanmi Financial Corporation a net impact ratio of 24.2%, indicating an overall positive sustainability impact.

For an initial, holistic view of value creation, the net impact ratio (NIR) from The Upright Project offers a good starting point. HAFC registers an overall positive sustainability impact with a NIR of 24.2%. This score measures the net sum of a company's costs and benefits across four dimensions: environment, health, society, and knowledge. The positive rating suggests the bank's core business model-primarily lending to and serving small and middle-market businesses-creates more societal benefit than environmental cost.

This external validation is defintely a plus for ESG-focused investors. It means the company's services are fundamentally aligned with societal needs, which is a strong foundation.

Positive value creation is noted in the Societal Infrastructure category of their ESG profile.

The positive value creation is most significant in the Societal Infrastructure category, plus Taxes and Jobs. As a community bank, HAFC's lending activities directly support the growth of small businesses and the stability of local economies. This is where the bank earns its positive impact, essentially funding the foundational elements of community growth that other, larger institutions often overlook.

The core business is the positive driver. Here's a look at the primary impact categories:

Impact Category (Upright Project)	Impact Type	HAFC Relevance
Societal Infrastructure	Positive	Financing small business and community development, which builds local economic stability.
Taxes	Positive	Corporate tax payments contribute to public services and infrastructure.
Jobs	Positive	Direct employment and indirect job creation through lending to small businesses.
GHG Emissions	Negative	Emissions from physical branches and financed emissions from mortgage portfolios.

Negative environmental impact primarily stems from GHG emissions related to brick-and-mortar operations and mortgages.

The primary negative environmental impact for a bank like HAFC is not in its direct operations (Scope 1 and 2), but in its financed emissions (Scope 3, Category 15: Investments). While HAFC has taken steps to mitigate its operational footprint-like moving its headquarters to the LEED-certified Wilshire Grand Center in Los Angeles-the real exposure comes from the loans they hold.

The negative contribution in the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions category is largely driven by:

• Mortgages provided by brick-and-mortar banks.
• GHG emissions from their physical branch network.
• Mortgage loans for corporations.

What this estimate hides is the actual volume. HAFC does not publicly disclose its Scope 1, 2, or 3 emissions in tons of CO2e in its most recent 2023 ESG Report, which is a gap in transparency that investors should note. Without a quantified Scope 3 baseline, it's hard to measure progress against climate-related financial risk (CRFR).

Commitment to Corporate Sustainability oversight rests with the Boards of Directors of Hanmi Financial Corporation and Hanmi Bank.

The formal structure for managing these environmental and social risks is in place. Corporate Sustainability oversight rests with the Boards of Directors of Hanmi Financial Corporation and Hanmi Bank. Specifically, the Nominating and Corporate Governance (NCG) Committee has an ESG Sub-committee that monitors the Company's commitment to responsible environmental practices, alongside social responsibility and governance. This direct Board-level accountability is crucial for ensuring that environmental considerations are integrated into the overall corporate strategy, not just treated as a compliance exercise.

The Board is actively engaged. This ensures ESG is a strategic priority, not an afterthought.