COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES (Details 2) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Mar. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Other Commitments
Unfunded commitments in investments in AHP and other tax credit investments	$ 163,600	$ 174,700
Loans Sold or Securitized with Recourse
Guarantees
Unpaid principal amount of loans sold or securitized with recourse	$ 178,400	191,300
Recourse provision limitation, maximum percentage of the top loss on the multifamily loans	4.00%
Recourse reserve related to loan sales and securitizations totaled	$ 580	630
Loans Sold or Securitized with Full Recourse [Member]
Guarantees
Maximum potential future payments	28,300	29,800
Loans Sold or Securitized with Limited Recourse [Member]
Guarantees
Maximum potential future payments	5,400	5,900
East West Bank \| F&F, LLC and 618 Investment, Inc. v. East West Bank
Litigation
Litigation accrual	$ 36,300	$ 35,400

Investment in affordable housing partnership and other tax credit investments payables.

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- Definition

Represents the maximum percentage of the top loss on the multifamily loans with limited recourse.

+ References

No definition available.

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- Definition

The portion of the allowance for unfunded loan commitments, off-balance sheet credit exposures and recourse provisions specifically related to off-balance sheet loans sold and securitized.

+ References

No definition available.

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- Definition

This is the principal amount outstanding for sold or securitized loans only (across all types of loans).

+ References

No definition available.

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- References

No definition available.

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- Definition

Maximum potential amount of future payments (undiscounted) the guarantor could be required to make under the guarantee or each group of similar guarantees before reduction for potential recoveries under recourse or collateralization provisions.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 460
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 4
-Subparagraph (b)(1)
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- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

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Amount of loss contingency liability.

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Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 450
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=25496072&loc=d3e14326-108349

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