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Note 1 - Business | 3 Months Ended
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Mar. 31, 2019
Notes to Financial Statements |
Nature of Operations [Text Block] | 1. Business Cathay General Bancorp (“Bancorp”) is the holding company for Cathay Bank (the “Bank” and, together, with Bancorp, the “Company”), nine limited partnerships investing in affordable housing investments in which the Bank is the sole limited partner, Asia Realty Corp. and GBC Venture Capital, Inc. Bancorp also owns 100% of the common stock of five statutory business trusts created for the purpose of issuing capital securities. The Bank was founded in 1962 and offers a wide range of financial services. As of March 31, 2019, the Bank operates 26 branches in Southern California, 14 branches in Northern California, 11 branches in New York State, four in Washington State, three in Illinois, two in Texas, one in Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, and New Jersey, one in Hong Kong, and a representative office in Taipei, Beijing, and Shanghai. Deposit accounts at the Hong Kong branch are not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the “FDIC”).

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- Definition The entire disclosure for the nature of an entity's business, major products or services, principal markets including location, and the relative importance of its operations in each business and the basis for the determination, including but not limited to, assets, revenues, or earnings. For an entity that has not commenced principal operations, disclosures about the risks and uncertainties related to the activities in which the entity is currently engaged and an understanding of what those activities are being directed toward. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 275 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (a) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=99393423&loc=d3e5967-108592 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 275 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/topic&trid=2134479 + Details
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