LOS ANGELES, May 1, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hanmi Financial Corporation (Nasdaq:HAFC) ("Hanmi"), the holding company for Hanmi Bank (the "Bank"), today announced that it has opened two new Loan Production Offices (LPOs) in New York and Georgia. With the addition of these locations, Hanmi now has a total of six LPOs serving customers nationwide.

Chris Hwang, SVP and New York Corporate Banking LPO Manager, will lead the New York LPO located at 1140 Avenue of the Americas, 9th Floor, New York, New York. The New York LPO will focus on middle market and C&I loans. Mr. Hwang joined the Hanmi team in January 2015 and has more than 25 years of experience in community banking, serving in several senior level banking/relationship management roles at East West Bank, TD Bank, N.A., Flushing Bank, Korea First Bank, and Long Island Savings Bank. Mr. Hwang earned his Masters of Science in Accounting from the C.W. Post College of Long Island University and completed the Graduate Commercial Lending School for the American Bankers Association at Southern Methodist University.

A new LPO has also been opened at 3700 Crestwood Parkway, Suite 360, Duluth, Georgia. James Lee, FVP and Georgia LPO Manager, will lead the Georgia LPO, which will focus on SBA loans. Mr. Lee, who joined Hanmi in January 2015, has a decade of experience in mortgage, commercial, and SBA lending, having served as a LPO manager at Wilshire Bank and in loan officer roles at JS Capital Group and Centro Mortgage, Inc. Mr. Lee earned his Masters of Science in Quantitative Computational Finance from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

About Hanmi Financial Corporation

Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, Hanmi Financial Corporation owns Hanmi Bank, which serves multi-ethnic communities through its network of 46 full-service branches and 6 loan production offices in California, Texas, Illinois, Virginia, New Jersey, New York, Colorado, Washington and Georgia. Hanmi Bank specializes in commercial real estate, C&I, SBA and trade finance lending to small and middle market businesses. Additional information is available at www.hanmi.com.

CONTACT: Christina C. Lee
         FVP & Senior Strategy Officer
         213-427-5631
         
         Lasse Glassen
         Investor Relations
         Addo Communications
         310-829-5400