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Comment (* UCB, bought by East West, is 120th U.S. failure this year
* Beijing says China operations of closed bank are sound (Adds Chinese regulator, Minsheng background in paras 8-12)
WASHINGTON, Nov 6 (Reuters) - United Commercial Bank, a bigSan Francisco bank with branches in China, was closed by stateregulators on Friday and its banking operations were acquiredby East West Bancorp Inc, also active in both nations.
East West (EWBC.O) said the transaction made it thesecond-largest independent bank in California. Based inPasadena, East West has 137 U.S. branches, including offices inNew York, Atlanta, Boston and Seattle, and four in China.
United Commercial Bank, with assets of $11.2 billion, wasthe 120th U.S. bank to fail this year. Regulators closed fourother banks on Friday, in Georgia, Michigan, Missouri andMinnesota. Failures already were the highest since 1992.
Banks are struggling to clean up...
