RBB Bancorp

Good day, everyone, and welcome to the RBB Bancorp results for the second quarter of 2023. At this time, all participants have been placed on a listen-only mode, and we will open the floor for your questions and comments after the presentation. It is now my pleasure to turn the floor over to your host, Catherine Way. Ma'am, the floor is yours.

Thank you. Good day, everyone, and thank you for joining us to discuss RBB Bancorp's results for the second quarter of 2023. With me today is Chief Executive Officer David Morris, President and Chief Banking Officer Johnny Lee, Chief Financial Officer Alex Koh, Chief Credit Officer Jeffrey Yeh, Chief Administrative Officer Gary Phan, and Chief Risk Officer Vincent Liu. David, Johnny, and Alex will briefly summarize the results, which can be found in the earnings press release and investor presentation that are available on our investor relations website. And then we'll open up the call to your questions. During this conference call, statements made by management may include forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are based upon specific assumptions that may or may not prove correct. Forward-looking statements are also subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors relating to RBB Bancorp's operations and business environment. all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the control of the company. For a detailed discussion of these risks and uncertainties, please refer to the documents the company has filed with the SEC. If any of these uncertainties materialize or any of these assumptions prove incorrect, RBB Bancorp's results could differ materially from its expectations as set forth in these statements. The company assumes no obligation to update such forward-looking statements unless required by law. Now, I'd like to turn the call over to David Warren. David?

Thank you, Catherine. Good day, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. First thing first, I would like to welcome Johnny Lee to the Royal Business Bank family as President and Chief Banking Officer and say how pleased we are to have someone with his experience and reputation join us in a leadership role. Johnny's hiring is one of the more visible steps we've taken over the past 15 months to strengthen our management team, enhance our board of directors, and adopt industry-leading corporate governance policies. These actions are summarized on page three of our earnings presentation. Since I was named CEO in February of last year, we have added a new president, chief financial officer, chief administrative officer, SBA manager, commercial lending manager, and an East Coast head of branch banking. These additions to the RBB team have deepened our management bench and improved our ability to run a nationwide banking franchise. In addition to the new employees, we enhanced our board of directors with six new directors with extensive regulatory executive leadership, wealth management, risk management, and community banking experience. Of our 10 directors, nine, including our chairman, are classified as independent directors. We also adopted new corporate governance policies and standards, which include enhanced director independence standards and an independent board chair, update board committee charters, and a new code of ethics. I want to mention these actions because I think they show how serious we are about serving our community, increasing shareholder value, and preventing a repeat of the events that led to the departure of former employees and directors. And we are hopeful that folks will look at us not as the bank we were a year ago, but as the bank we are today. With all that said, I think it's important to address a couple items in the quarter before I hand it over to Alex. First, we are aware of the increase in non-performing loans. While non-performing loans increased in the second quarter, classified, special mention, and loans delinquent between 30 and 90 days decreased from the last quarter. Specifically, special mention loans decreased significantly to $24 million from $89 million in the past quarter. Second, we strengthened our liquidity and are well on our way to bring the bank's loan to deposit ratio down to our sub 95% target. These efforts have resulted in a decrease in loans as we have slowed our lending tightening credit, and increased our liquidity over the past few quarters. We continue to lend to our core customers and expect Johnny's experience in C&I lending will create new opportunities to originate loans that come with significant deposits. Now I'll hand the call over to Johnny, who will make a few comments before handing it over to Alex to discuss the financial results. Johnny? Thank you, David.