Our Corporate Responsibility

Our Board of Directors and management team firmly believe that a commitment to operating the Company with strong Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) practices is critical to building a foundation that supports the long-term sustainability of our franchise. Diversity, inclusiveness, integrity, accountability, and being a responsible corporate citizen are core values of our institution. By operating with the highest ethical standards, we seek to make a positive impact on all of our stakeholders – clients, employees, shareholders, and the communities we serve.

Since our founding, we have devoted considerable time, attention and resources to our efforts in the area of ESG. The following information is intended to provide our stakeholders with more insight and a better understanding into how we incorporate ESG initiatives throughout our organization, as well as our commitment to continually improving our ESG practices as we become a larger financial institution.

ESG Program Oversight and Implementation

The Nominating and Governance Committee of our Board of Directors is responsible for the development and approval of our ESG policies, overseeing management’s implementation of ESG initiatives, and ensuring that we meet our ESG objectives.

An ESG Management Group is charged with the development, implementation, and management of our ESG initiatives. To ensure that ESG initiatives are given sufficient priority, all members of our executive management team are members of the ESG Management Group. This group consists of our Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer & Chief Financial Officer, Chief Credit Officer, Chief Banking Officer, Chief Lending Officer, and Chief Technology Officer.

Human Capital Initiatives

We believe that recruiting and maintaining a diverse workforce helps us to incorporate a wide range of perspectives into our decision-making processes and best serve our targeted markets. Following is an overview of the demographic breakdown of our 153 employees as of December 31, 2021:

  • 59% female, 41% male
  • 33% of all executives were female
  • 52% minorities, 48% non-minorities

We seek to create a positive workplace environment, minimize workforce turnover, and support the development and advancement of our employees through the following initiatives:

  • We offer significant resources designed to support employee physical and mental health, while promoting their financial and career well-being
  • We provide unconscious bias training including required training for the CEO, senior leadership, managers, and human resources functions
  • We have adopted and enforce formal processes to prevent and protect all employees from harassment and discrimination

 Social Initiatives

We are actively and passionately involved in ensuring that the communities where we live and work have the support needed so that everyone has an opportunity to succeed.  In 2020, the Bank established the CBC Charitable Foundation, providing a venue to focus our giving efforts and to further provide opportunities for charitable involvement by employees/team members.  The CBC Charitable Foundation, funded by the Bank, is focused on assisting nonprofit organizations that promote economic growth and foster quality of life for all who live, work and learn in our communities.  Examples of our social initiatives include:

  • Participating in the Cristo Rey schools Corporate Work Study Program, which provides students with the opportunity to work at our offices and gain the real world experience in relationship building and decision making necessary for success in business
  • Promoting volunteerism among our employees, who generously give of their time and talent to support dozens of community organizations
  • Actively supporting the local arts community through our Arts Program

During the COVID-19 pandemic, our commitment to supporting our communities became even more important as we focused our resources on helping ensure that local businesses had the funding they needed to continue operations and retain employees during this unprecedented period. We helped more than 1,100 clients access nearly $500 million in funding through the Paycheck Protection Program, while providing deferrals on more than $300 million of loans that helped provide a critical bridge for these clients until the economy began to recover from the impact of the pandemic.

Environmental Initiatives

With each passing year, we gather more information about the environmental impact that our operations have and put in place responsible policies and behavior to help reduce that impact. Following are some of our environmental initiatives:

  • 100% of our locations reside in LEED™ certified or LEED™ registered buildings
  • Implementing recycling programs at all of our locations
  • Encouraging the use of online/mobile services and paperless statements among our clients
  • Promoting the availability of electric vehicle charging stations at our facilities
  • Investing in technologies that enhance our digital capabilities and make the company more efficient, thereby reducing our energy usage and paper consumption
  • Embracing lending opportunities to support clean energy and alternative energy initiatives, including loans to support solar power for both businesses and consumers, as well as financing for companies that provide energy-consulting services and facilitate positive climate action

Governance Initiatives

We believe that sound governance policies and practices provide an important framework to guide our efforts to make a positive impact on all of our key stakeholders. Our Board of Directors has adopted policies and practices under which it has operated for some time with concepts based on the suggestions of various authorities in corporate governance and the requirements under applicable rules of the Nasdaq Stock Market. Our Board members believe these policies and practices are essential to the performance of the Board’s oversight responsibilities and the maintenance of the Company’s integrity in the marketplace. The policies and practices include, among others, the following:

  • We have adopted a Code of Business and Ethical Conduct for our directors, officers and employees and a Code of Conduct for the Chief Executive Officer and Other Senior Financial Officers that contains specific ethical policies and principles
  • We have adopted a Related Party Transaction Policy, which provides that subject to certain limited exceptions, the Company will not enter into or consummate a related party transaction that is determined by the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee to be materially less favorable from a financial standpoint to the Company than similar transactions between the Company and unaffiliated third parties
  • Our Board has separated the positions of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer since our inception because our Board believes that doing so provides the appropriate leadership structure for us at this time, particularly because the separation of those two positions enables our Chief Executive Officer to focus on the management of our business and the development and implementation of strategic initiatives, while the Chairman leads our Board in the performance of its management oversight and other governance responsibilities
  • We require that a majority of the Board be composed of directors meeting the requirements for independence established by Nasdaq’s listing standards and applicable SEC rules, with the independence of the directors evaluated at least on an annual basis
  • We have robust Audit and Risk functions overseen by four members of our Audit Committee that qualify as financial experts, which has enabled us to make timely financial disclosures with no restatement of these disclosures in the past five years
  • We have adopted an Insider Trading Policy that prohibits our directors, named executive officers and other key executives from hedging the economic interest in the Company securities that they own and from engaging in short sales or speculative transactions with respect to our stock
  • We have established a Whistleblower Policy that enables employees to report any concerns they may have regarding illegal or unethical activity by an insider, conflicts of interest, internal accounting controls, or similar matters
  • We have invested in systems and controls to protect the privacy and confidentiality of client data, including adopting and adhering to a privacy policy that meets the requirements of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and its implementing regulations
  • The Board’s composition reflects the representation from women and underserved minorities required under California law