COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES (Details 2) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Sep. 30, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Guarantees
Allowance for unfunded credit reserves	$ 255,812	$ 264,959
Loans Sold or Securitized with Recourse
Guarantees
Unpaid principal amount of loans sold or securitized with recourse	$ 159,500	191,300
Recourse provision limitation, maximum percentage of the top loss on the multifamily loans	4.00%
Loans Sold or Securitized with Full Recourse
Guarantees
Maximum potential future payments	$ 25,500	29,800
Loans Sold or Securitized with Limited Recourse
Guarantees
Maximum potential future payments	4,900	5,900
East West Bank \| F&F, LLC and 618 Investment, Inc. v. East West Bank
Litigation
Litigation accrual	38,100	35,400
Accrued Expenses and Other Liabilities
Other Commitments
Unfunded commitments in investments in AHP and other tax credit investments	160,500	174,700
Accrued Expenses and Other Liabilities \| Loans Sold or Securitized with Recourse
Guarantees
Allowance for unfunded credit reserves	$ 466	$ 630

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

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.

+ Details

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- Definition

A valuation allowance for financing receivables that are expected to be uncollectible.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 310
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 11B
-Subparagraph (c)(1)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=49124121&loc=SL6953423-111524

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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)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6851643&loc=d3e12069-110248

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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.

+ Details

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- Definition

Amount of loss contingency liability.

+ References

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

+ Details

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Balance Type:	credit
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- Definition

Minimum amount of other commitment not otherwise specified in the taxonomy. Excludes commitments explicitly modeled in the taxonomy, including but not limited to, long-term and short-term purchase commitments, recorded and unrecorded purchase obligations, supply commitments, registration payment arrangements, leases, debt, product warranties, guarantees, environmental remediation obligations, and pensions.

+ References

No definition available.

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Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- References

No definition available.

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- Details

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- Details

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- Details

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- Details

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