Monarch Bancorp Takes New Moniker

LAGUNA NIGUEL — Fast-growing Monarch Bancorp has changed its name to Western Bancorp as it completed its second merger and awaits various approvals to finish a third.

The company, which first acquired Western Bank in Westwood, completed its merger last week with the parent company of National Bank of Southern California in a stock swap valued at $85 million. Western also consolidated its Monarch Bank operations into National Bank, which will continue to run the two Monarch branches as a division, said Arnold C. Hahn, Western’s chief financial officer.

Western will keep its headquarters in Laguna Niguel for now, Hahn said, though it will likely move to National Bank’s Newport Beach offices later this year. Western’s chairman and its president operate out of Westwood.

The deal with National Bank gives Western $850 million in loans and other assets, but a pending transaction will make Western the first Orange County banking concern to hold more than $1 billion in assets. Western has reached a definitive agreement to acquire SC Bancorp, the parent company of Southern California Bank in Anaheim. That transaction will give Western a total of $1.35 billion in assets.