The Region - News from Feb. 25, 1986

The run on First Public Savings Bank has ended and customers are returning to deposit their money, the chairman of the Chinatown bank said. About $100,000 was redeposited in the first hour of business Monday and, though no total figures were available, Chairman Jack Lee said he hoped that several million dollars would be back in by the close of the business day. “It (the panic) seems to have run its course,” said Donald Alexander of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board. Neither Lee nor Alexander could offer any detailed explanation for the rumor that swept through Chinatown, and a Monterey Park branch, that the bank was in trouble. Hundreds of anxious depositors withdrew more than $5 million on Saturday alone. Bank and federal officials had tried to assure customers that First Public was on sound financial footing and said the run was a cultural phenomenon among recent Chinese and Vietnamese immigrants who lack an understanding of U.S. banking.