LOS ANGELES, Mar 23, 2005 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Center Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: CLFC), the financial holding company of Center Bank, today announced that it has identified an internal control deficiency that constituted a "material weakness," as defined by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board's Accounting Standard No. 2, as of December 31, 2004. The weakness concerned the interpretation and implementation of various complex accounting principles, primarily in the area of non-routine business transactions, and resulted from the fact that the Company needed additional personnel and outside consulting expertise with respect to the application of some of these more complex accounting principals to its financial statements. As a result, as of December 31, 2004, certain non-routine business transactions were not recorded in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles accepted in the United States prior to the audit of the Company's financial statements by its independent accountants.

To correct the deficiency, Center Financial has augmented its internal accounting staff and is in the process of expanding its external consulting expertise to enable the Company to properly apply these complex accounting principals to its financial statements. As announced today in a separate news release, the Company has appointed Patrick Hartman, with more than 28 years of experience in the financial services industry, as its new chief financial officer. "We are pleased to have concluded our search for a new chief financial officer and anticipate Patrick's appointment will be a major factor in improving our internal controls," said (Paul) Seon-Hong Kim, president and chief executive officer. "We expect to resolve this issue quickly and move forward with Center Financial's strategic endeavors."

Center Financial is also in the process of retaining a certified public accounting firm as a third party consultant to provide both prospective guidance with respect to complex accounting principals, and to verify the accuracy of our application of these principles before the Company's financial statements are reviewed by its independent accountants.

On March 16, 2005, the Company filed for a 15-day extension on Form 12b-25 pertaining to the filing of its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the full-year ended December 31, 2004 and said it expected to file such report on or before the extended deadline of March 31, 2005.

About Center Financial Corporation

Center Financial Corporation is the financial holding company of Center Bank, a community bank offering a full range of financial services for diverse ethnic and small business customers. Founded in 1986 and specializing in commercial and SBA loans and trade finance products, Center Bank has grown to be one of the nation's largest financial institutions focusing on the Korean-American community, with total assets of $1.34 billion at December 31, 2004. Headquartered in Los Angeles, Center Bank operates 24 branch and loan production offices across the nation, of which 15 full-service branches are located throughout Southern California and in Chicago, plus nine loan production offices in Phoenix, Seattle, Denver, Washington D.C., Las Vegas, Atlanta, Honolulu, Houston and Dallas. Center Bank is a California state-chartered institution and member of the FDIC. For additional information on Center Bank, visit the company's Web site at www.centerbank.com.

This release may contain forward-looking statements, which are included in accordance with the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and accordingly, the cautionary statements contained in Center Financial Corp.'s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended Dec. 31, 2003 (See Business, and Management's Discussion and Analysis), and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission are incorporated herein by reference. These factors include, but are not limited to: the company's ability to timely resolve the internal control deficiencies constituting a "material weakness;" competition in the financial services market for both deposits and loans; the ability of Center Financial and its subsidiaries to increase its customer base; and regional and general economic conditions. Actual results and performance in future periods may be materially different from any future results or performance suggested by the forward-looking statements in this release. Such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this release. Center Financial expressly disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements found herein to reflect any changes in the company's expectations of results or any change in events.

SOURCE: Center Financial Corporation

Center Financial Corporation
Patrick Hartman, CFO, 213-401-2311
James Ryu, SVP, 213-251-2206
or
PondelWilkinson Inc.
Angie Yang/Wade Huckabee, 310-279-5980
investor@pondel.com