So, we dropped now to 38%. It’s still 38%. That’s a lot of noninterest-bearing deposits sitting there. And by the way, the other part is that, we continue to bring in new customers. We continue to bring new commercial customers. We’re still onboarding this new relationship one at a time. So, in time, it will continue to grow the noninterest-bearing deposit. It’s just that there are some excess liquidity that in relationship with the market rate in terms of deposit, it is today. Naturally, there are people who are moving some of the, maybe excess liquidity to put into whether money market accounts or maybe CDs account and so forth. So, that’s why you see that there is some gradual reduction on noninterest-bearing deposit balance, but in terms of number of accounts, they keep going up.
Operator: The next question comes from Casey Haire with Jefferies. Please go ahead.
Casey Haire: Yes, thanks. Good mornings guys. Just wanted to follow up on the loan growth outlook. Was wondering how €“ what you guys were assuming for utilization rates in your guide? And then any color on how loan pipelines are shaping up versus ?
Irene Oh: Yes. At this point in time, we’re not assuming a change in utilization rates, Casey. We’re assuming flat from where we’re at.
Casey Haire: Okay. Understood. And then on the credit quality side, everything is still pretty benign and holding stable. I was wondering, is that true also for the $2 billion exposure in China, which obviously gets a lot of attention from investors?
Dominic Ng: China is even better. So, we always have a very, very strong pristine loan portfolio. And so, it’s still exactly the same. So, we feel that with the economy opening up, I think it was only going to help us better. While we don’t expect that there will be some sudden surge of loan origination in 2023 because while the economy opened up, it’s going to still take a little bit time for the business to, sort of get back on track. It will probably benefit us more in 2024 than 2023.
Operator: The next question comes from Gary Tenner with D.A. Davidson. Please go ahead.
Clark Wright: Hi, good morning. This is Clark Wright on for Gary Tenner. I don’t want to beat a dead horse, but just in terms of the loan growth again, are you expecting it to be front-end loaded or across the quarters?
Irene Oh: We’re assuming that it isn’t front-end loaded. That will be throughout, maybe a little bit more in the latter half of the year.
Clark Wright: Got it. And the rest of my questions have been answered. Thank you and great quarter.
Irene Oh: Thank you.
Operator: The next question comes from Chris McGratty with KBW. Please go ahead.
Chris McGratty: Hi, good morning. Dominic, on capital, I think the dividend was a pretty strong signal given how much capital you have and the position you’re in. Is that the, really the only capital return that you’re contemplating right now given the economy? I know you’ve been resistant to the buyback, but just wanted to see if there’s any change in there?
Irene Oh: I just want to interject. We have not been resistant to buyback. We bought back 100 million last year.
Dominic Ng: Yes, we did 100 million in the second quarter 2022. We still have 254 million outstanding that we can execute anytime we want because it’s been approved by the Board last year. And we are very opportunistic in terms of the buyback. You have to look at it is that fourth quarter, we just 25% return on tangible equity. So, we obviously, it’s not one of those things that really need to do this. However, we have always shareholders-friendly. So, if we ever see that there’s great opportunity, we absolutely will use the capital at the right moment. I thought what we did in the second quarter for the 100 million was a great execution because at that time, at that price, sure, I will jump right at right at it. So €“ but we have to be also be mindful.
