COVERED ASSETS AND FDIC INDEMNIFICATION ASSET (Details 3) (USD $)	12 Months Ended										12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011		Dec. 31, 2010		Dec. 31, 2009	Dec. 31, 2011 Covered OREO Properties property	Dec. 31, 2010 Covered OREO Properties property	Dec. 31, 2011 Covered OREO Properties Geographic Concentration California	Dec. 31, 2011 Covered OREO Properties Geographic Concentration Washington	Dec. 31, 2011 United Commercial Bank (UCB) Covered loans	Dec. 31, 2011 United Commercial Bank (UCB) Covered loans Geographic Concentration region	Nov. 06, 2009 United Commercial Bank (UCB) Covered loans Geographic Concentration California	Nov. 06, 2009 United Commercial Bank (UCB) Covered loans Geographic Concentration Hong Kong	Nov. 06, 2009 United Commercial Bank (UCB) Covered loans Geographic Concentration New York
Credit Risk and Concentrations
Percent of total								57.00%	28.00%	94.00%		64.00%	10.00%	11.00%
Number of general geographic regions											3
Covered Nonperforming Assets
Covered nonaccrual loans	$ 194,506,000	[1],[2]	$ 379,797,000	[1],[2]
Total nonperforming loans	194,506,000		379,797,000
Other real estate owned covered, net	63,624,000		123,902,000			63,624,000	123,902,000
Total covered nonperforming assets	258,130,000		503,699,000
Number of covered OREO properties						82	114
Number of covered OREO properties added during the period						131
Aggregate carrying value of covered OREO properties added during the period						122,200,000
Net writedowns included in aggregate carrying value on covered OREO properties						26,300,000
Number of covered OREO properties sold during the period						163
Total proceeds value of covered OREO properties sold during the period						159,200,000
Combined net gains (losses) on covered OREO properties sold during the period						3,000,000
Changes in the accretable yield for the covered loans
Balance at beginning of period	1,153,272,000		983,107,000
Additions			82,997,000	[3]
Accretion	(208,887,000)		(183,835,000)
Changes in expected cash flows	(159,220,000)		271,003,000
Balance at end of period	785,165,000		1,153,272,000		983,107,000
Covered assets - other disclosures
Amount of loans removed from the covered loans accounted under ASC 310-30, excluding scheduled principal payments	778,700,000		1,050,000,000		333,800,000
Loan discount related to payoffs and removals of loans	$ 102,100,000		$ 136,500,000		$ 74,400,000

[1] Covered nonaccrual loans meet the criteria for nonaccrual but have a yield accreted through interest income under ASC 310-30.

[2] Represents principal balance net of associated discount.

[3] The additions included above for the twelve months ended December 31, 2010, resulted from the June 11, 2010 acquisition of WFIB.