COVERED ASSETS AND FDIC INDEMNIFICATION ASSET (Details 5) (USD $)	12 Months Ended							12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended			0 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012		Dec. 31, 2011		Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2012 Loans accounted for under ASC 310-10	Dec. 31, 2011 Loans accounted for under ASC 310-10	Dec. 31, 2012 Covered OREO Properties item	Dec. 31, 2011 Covered OREO Properties item	Dec. 31, 2012 Covered OREO Properties Geographic Concentration California	Dec. 31, 2012 Covered OREO Properties Geographic Concentration Washington	Dec. 31, 2012 United Commercial Bank (UCB) item	Nov. 06, 2009 United Commercial Bank (UCB) Geographic Concentration California	Nov. 06, 2009 United Commercial Bank (UCB) Geographic Concentration New York	Nov. 06, 2009 United Commercial Bank (UCB) Geographic Concentration Hong Kong
Credit Risk and Concentrations
Percent of total										59.00%	22.00%	94.00%	64.00%	11.00%	10.00%
Number of general geographic regions												3
Covered Nonperforming Assets
Covered nonaccrual loans	$ 204,310,000	[1],[2],[3]	$ 194,506,000	[1],[2],[3]		$ 29,600,000	$ 18,900,000
Total nonperforming loans	204,310,000		194,506,000
Other real estate owned covered, net	26,808,000		63,624,000
Total covered nonperforming assets	231,118,000		258,130,000
Number of covered OREO properties								37	82
Number of covered OREO properties added during the period								54
Aggregate carrying value of covered OREO properties								26,800,000	63,600,000
Aggregate carrying value of covered OREO properties added during the period								40,800,000
Net writedowns included in aggregate carrying value on covered OREO properties								10,900,000
Number of covered OREO properties sold during the period								99
Total proceeds value of covered OREO properties sold during the period								72,200,000
Combined net gains (losses) on covered OREO properties sold during the period								5,500,000
Changes in the accretable yield for the covered loans
Balance at beginning of period	785,165,000		1,153,272,000
Accretion	(193,591,000)		(208,887,000)
Changes in expected cash flows	(34,588,000)		(159,220,000)
Balance at end of period	556,986,000		785,165,000		1,153,272,000
Covered assets - other disclosures
Amount of loans removed from the covered loans accounted under ASC 310-30, excluding scheduled principal payments	924,700,000		932,200,000		1,330,000,000
Loan discount related to payoffs and removals of loans	$ 124,700,000		$ 102,100,000		$ 135,000,000

[1] Covered nonaccrual loans include loans that meet the criteria for nonaccrual but have a yield accreted through interest income under ASC 310-30 and all losses on covered loans are 80% reimbursed by the FDIC.

[2] Represents principal balance net of discount.

[3] Includes $29.6 million and $18.9 million of loans at December 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively, accounted for under ASC 310-10, of which some loans have additional partial balances accounted for under ASC 310-30.