UCBH Holdings, Inc. Announces the Opening of Westminster Branch in Southern California; New Branch Further Expands United Commercial Bank's Services in Orange County

Business Wire, March 31, 2006

SAN FRANCISCO -- UCBH Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq:UCBH), the holding company of United Commercial Bank (UCB(TM)), announced the opening of its new full-service branch located at 15440 Beach Boulevard in Westminster, California, further strengthening and expanding UCB's presence in Southern California. With the opening of this branch which is UCB's second Westminster location, United Commercial Bank operates 20 branches/offices in the Southern California Region.

Westminster is home to one of the largest and well-established Vietnamese communities, known as Little Saigon, in Orange County, California. The UCB branches in Westminster are strategically located in Little Saigon as part of the Bank's expansion strategy to increase its market share in Southern California by both targeting and providing better service to the fast-growing Chinese and Vietnamese markets.

"We are very pleased with the successful opening of our new branch in Westminster," said Mr. Thomas S. Wu, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of UCBH Holdings, Inc. "We believe this new location will further enhance our ability to serve the banking needs of our customers in this growing Asian community, as well as be instrumental in our continuing to increase our Southern California market share."

About UCBH Holdings, Inc.

UCBH Holdings, Inc. is the holding company for United Commercial Bank, a state-chartered commercial bank, which is the leading bank in the United States serving the Chinese community and American companies doing business in Greater China. With $7.96 billion in assets as of December 31, 2005, the Bank has 47 California branches/offices located in the San Francisco Bay Area, Sacramento, Stockton, Los Angeles and Orange counties; four branches in New York, three branches in New England, two branches in the Pacific Northwest, a branch in Hong Kong, and representative offices in Shenzhen, China and Taipei, Taiwan. UCB, with headquarters in San Francisco, provides commercial banking services to small- and medium-sized businesses and professionals in a variety of industries, as well as consumer and private banking services to individuals. The Bank offers a full range of lending activities, including commercial real estate and construction loans, commercial credit facilities, international trade finance, cash management, private client services, loans guaranteed by the U.S. Small Business Administration, residential mortgages, home equity lines of credit, and online banking services for businesses and consumers. For additional information, visit the web site for United Commercial Bank at www.ibankUNITED.com or the web site for UCBH Holdings, Inc. at www.ucbh.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this release may include forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are based upon specific assumptions that may or may not prove correct. Forward-looking statements are also subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors relating to the Company's and the Bank's operations and business environment, all of which are difficult to predict, and many of which are beyond the control of the Company and the Bank. The factors include, among others: economic and business conditions in the areas and markets in which the Company and the Bank operate, particularly those affecting loans secured by real estate; deterioration or improvement in the ability of the Bank's borrowers to pay their debts to the Bank; market fluctuations such as those affecting interest and foreign exchange rates and the value of securities in which the Bank invests; competition from other financial institutions, whether banks, investment banks, insurance companies or others; the ability of the Bank to assimilate acquisitions, enter new markets and lines of business, and open new branches, successfully; changes in business strategies; changes in tax law and governmental regulation of financial institutions; demographic changes; and other risks and uncertainties, including those discussed in the documents the Company files with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). The foregoing may cause the actual results and performance of the Company and the Bank to be materially different from the results and performance indicated or suggested by the forward-looking statements. Further description of the risks and uncertainties are included in detail in the Company's current, quarterly and annual reports, as filed with the SEC.