American Plus Bank, N.A., a federally chartered full service community bank, announced that Mr. Lucilio (Louie) M. Couto will be joining the Bank as President and Chief Executive Officer as of June 16, 2015. Mr. Couto brings with him almost 25 years of regulatory and executive banking experience including a significant tenure at a large publicly traded Chinese American Bank in Los Angeles, California.
Before joining American Plus Bank, Mr. Couto was the Executive Vice President and Chief Credit Officer of Preferred Bank, where he began working in 2009. Prior to that he served in senior executive management positions at two other Southern California financial institutions, including as Chief Credit Officer and Chief Risk Officer of Vineyard Bank from 2007 to 2009. Prior to joining Vineyard Bank, Mr. Couto spent 16 years working for the FDIC in a variety of positions, including most recently as Senior Risk Management Examiner. Mr. Couto received his Bachelor’s degree in Finance from California State University San Bernardino in 1991 and graduated from the University of Wisconsin’s Graduate School of Banking in 2004.
Chairman Mr. Johnson Yang commented: “The Board of Directors and the Management team are very excited about Mr. Couto’s joining the Bank and we are convinced that he will take us to the next stage of growth, while at the same time, help advance the Bank’s overall vision and structure.”