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Central Pacific Financial Corp. Appoints Catherine Ngo As President And CEO

CPF | June 4, 2015

NGO AND LANCE MIZUMOTO APPOINTED TO BOARD OF DIRECTORS DAVID MORIMOTO APPOINTED AS EVP, CFO AND TREASURER

HONOLULU, June 4, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Central Pacific Financial Corp. (NYSE: "CPF"), parent company of Central Pacific Bank ("CPB", the "Bank"), today announced the appointments of A. Catherine Ngo to President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and David S. Morimoto to Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Treasurer of the holding company and its bank subsidiary, effective July 1, 2015. John C. Dean, current Chairman and CEO, will remain with the company in the new role of Executive Chair of CPF and CPB. Ngo and Lance Mizumoto, President and Chief Banking Officer, will be appointed as directors to the boards of CPF and CPB.

"With Catherine's proven leadership, she is the right person to take our organization forward," said John C. Dean, Chairman and CEO. "In addition to her business expertise, Catherine has been instrumental in building a strong organizational foundation premised on employee core values and our customers' experience." Dean further stated, "As our chief banking officer, Lance will continue to provide the strength of leadership and expertise needed to drive our company to higher levels. Both Catherine and Lance will be strong additions to our board of directors."

In addition to serving as chair of the CPF and CPB board of directors, Dean will continue to be actively engaged in the strategic direction and guidance of the Company as Executive Chair and lead the Office of the Chair, comprised of Dean, Ngo, and Mizumoto.

"I look forward to leading the company and continuing the great progress toward achieving higher performance levels," said Catherine Ngo, President and COO. "I have full confidence in the strength of our management team and of our employees as we realize on our opportunities in the market."

Ngo, 54, joined the Company in 2010 as EVP and Chief Administrative Officer, and currently serves as President and Chief Operating Officer of CPF and CPB. Prior to joining the company, Ngo was a founding general partner, along with Dean, of Startup Capital Ventures L.P., which was established in 2005 with investments in Hawaii, Silicon Valley, and China. From 1993 to 2005, Ngo was with Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) as Executive Vice President and General Counsel, and as part of the executive team responsible for SVB's turnaround under the leadership of Dean as Chair and CEO. While at SVB, Ngo also served as Chief Operating Officer of Alliant Partners, SVB's investment banking subsidiary. A graduate of the University of Virginia, School of Law, Ngo started her career in private law practice focused on banking and securities law. Her current affiliations include: venture partner of Startup Capital Ventures, L.P., board trustee of the University of Hawaii Foundation, and director of The Nature Conservancy of Hawaii.

Mizumoto, 57, has over 30 years in banking, and will continue to oversee the organization-wide strategic direction and management of the Bank's commercial banking, commercial and residential real estate lending, business banking, retail banking, and wealth management lines of business. He received his business degree from the University of Hawaii – Manoa, and his Master of Business Administration from Chaminade University. Mizumoto currently serves as director of the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, regent of Chaminade University, and was recently appointed to the State of Hawaii Board of Education.

Morimoto, 47, has been with the Company since 1991 and currently serves as Senior Vice President and Treasurer. He is responsible for the Bank's asset/liability management, investment portfolio management, debt and capital management, liquidity management, and investor relations. Morimoto is a graduate of the University of Hawaii with a degree in Finance, and received his Master of Business Administration from Chaminade University. His current affiliations include serving as director of the Institute for Human Services and director of the Hawaii Council of Economic Education.

"David has consistently demonstrated his critical thinking and broad vision throughout his 24 years at our company, and especially during the turnaround and recovery periods of our company," stated Dean. "We look forward to his continued contributions at the CFO level."

Denis Isono, Executive Vice President and CFO, will assume a new role with the Bank as EVP, Corporate Services, and will manage the business continuity and property management areas, as well as continue to serve as President of the Central Pacific Bank Foundation.

"We are very fortunate to continue benefitting from Denis' experience and expertise he gained as our CFO and former chief operations officer of our organization," said Dean. "His help in facilitating a smooth transition will be invaluable."

About Central Pacific Financial Corp.
Central Pacific Financial Corp. is a Hawaii-based bank holding company with approximately $5.0 billion in assets. Central Pacific Bank, its primary subsidiary, operates 36 branches and 110 ATMs in the state of Hawaii, as of March 31, 2015. For additional information, please visit the Company's website at http://www.centralpacificbank.com.

Forward-Looking Statements
This document may contain forward-looking statements concerning expectations regarding the future performance of our management team and our other employees, projections of revenues, income/loss, earnings/loss per share, capital expenditures, dividends, capital structure, or other financial items, plans and objectives of management for future operations, future economic performance, overall expectations regarding future performance of the Company, or any of the assumptions underlying or relating to any of the foregoing. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts, and may include the words "believes," "plans," "expects," "anticipates," "forecasts," "intends," "hopes," "should," "estimates," or words of similar meaning. While the Company believes that our forward-looking statements and the assumptions underlying them are reasonably based, such statements and assumptions are by their nature subject to risks and uncertainties, and thus could later prove to be inaccurate or incorrect. Accordingly, actual results could materially differ from projections for a variety of reasons, to include, but not limited to: the effect of, and our failure to comply with any regulatory orders we are or may become subject to; oversupply of inventory and adverse conditions in the Hawaii and California real estate markets and any weakness in the construction industry; adverse changes in the financial performance and/or condition of our borrowers and, as a result, increased loan delinquency rates, deterioration in asset quality, and losses in our loan portfolio; the impact of local, national, and international economies and events (including political events, acts of war or terrorism, natural disasters such as wildfires, tsunamis and earthquakes) on the Company's business and operations and on tourism, the military and other major industries operating within the Hawaii market and any other markets in which the Company does business; deterioration or malaise in economic conditions, including destabilizing factors in the financial industry and deterioration of the real estate market, as well as the impact from any declining levels of consumer and business confidence in the state of the economy in general and in financial institutions in particular; our ability to continue making progress on our recovery plan; the impact of regulatory action on the Company and Central Pacific Bank and legislation affecting the banking industry; changes in estimates of future reserve requirements based upon the periodic review thereof under relevant regulatory and accounting requirements; the impact of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, other regulatory reform, and any related rules and regulations on our business operations and competitiveness; the costs and effects of legal and regulatory developments, including legal proceedings or regulatory or other governmental inquiries and proceedings and the resolution thereof, and the results of regulatory examinations or reviews; the effects of and changes in trade, monetary and fiscal policies and laws, including the interest rate policies of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System; inflation, interest rate, securities market and monetary fluctuations; negative trends in our market capitalization and adverse changes in the price of the Company's common shares; changes in consumer spending, borrowings and savings habits; technological changes and developments; changes in the competitive environment among financial holding companies and other financial service providers; the effect of changes in accounting policies and practices, as may be adopted by the regulatory agencies, as well as the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, the Financial Accounting Standards Board and other accounting standard setters; our ability to attract and retain skilled executives and employees; changes in our organization (including our management succession), compensation and benefit plans; and our success at managing the risks involved in any of the foregoing items. For further information on factors that could cause actual results to materially differ from projections, please see the Company's publicly available Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including the Company's Form 10-K for the last fiscal year and, in particular, the discussion of "Risk Factors" set forth therein. The Company does not update any of its forward-looking statements except as required by law.