CATHAY GENERAL BANCORP

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

To the Stockholders and Board of Directors

Cathay General Bancorp:

Opinion on the Consolidated Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Cathay General Bancorp and subsidiaries (the Company) as of December 31, 2025 and 2024, the related consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income, changes in stockholders’ equity, and cash flows for each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 2025, and the related notes (collectively, the consolidated financial statements). In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2025 and 2024, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 2025, in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.

We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2025, based on criteria established inInternal Control–* Integrated Framework (2013)* issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission, and our report dated February 27, 2026 expressed an unqualified opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.

Basis for Opinion

These consolidated financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these consolidated financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the consolidated financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the consolidated financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Critical Audit Matter

The critical audit matter communicated below is a matter arising from the current period audit of the consolidated financial statements that was communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that: (1) relates to accounts or disclosures that are material to the consolidated financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. The communication of a critical audit matter does not alter in any way our opinion on the consolidated financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matter below, providing a separate opinion on the critical audit matter or on the accounts or disclosures to which it relates.

Allowance for loan losses for loans evaluated on a collective basis modeled using an econometric methodology.

As discussed in Note 4 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company’s total allowance for loan losses as of December 31, 2025 was $195.9 million, a substantial portion of which relates to the allowance for loan losses on loans evaluated on a collective basis for residential mortgages, commercial and industrial loans, construction loans, commercial real estate for multifamily loans, commercial real estate for owner-occupied loans, and other commercial real estate loans (hereafter “six portfolios”). As discussed in Note 1, the six portfolios use a methodology that includes econometric regression models, risk ratings, and certain qualitative loss factors (together the collective ALL). The collective ALL includes the measure of expected credit losses on a collective basis by pooling those loans that share similar risk characteristics into these six portfolios. The collective ALL methodology uses historical credit loss experience as a basis for estimation of expected credit losses at the collective pool basis over the contractual term of the loans, adjusted for expected prepayments when appropriate. The Company calculates the collective ALL by estimating the probability of default during the reasonable and supportable forecast period using separate econometric regression models developed to correlate macroeconomic variables to loan risk rating performance for each of the six portfolios. Loss given default rates are computed based on the net charge-offs recognized. The probability of default and the loss given default rates are applied to the expected amount at default at the loan level based on contractual scheduled payments and estimated prepayments. The collective ALL incorporates reasonable and supportable forecasts of various macroeconomic variables over a two-year reasonable and supportable forecast period, reverting linearly to long-term rates over the one-year reversion period. Management relies on multiple forecast scenarios, which are weighted in determining a single loss estimate. Adjustments to historical loss information are made for differences in current loan-specific risk characteristics as well as for changes in environmental conditions. The adjustments, or qualitative loss factors, consider incremental risk factors, conditions that may not be reflected in quantitatively derived results, or other relevant factors to seek to ensure the allowance for credit losses reflects the Company’s best estimate of current expected credit losses.

We identified the assessment of the collective ALL as a critical audit matter. A high degree of audit effort, including specialized skills and knowledge, and subjective and complex auditor judgment was involved in the assessment due to significant measurement uncertainty. This included our assessment of the collective ALL methodology, including the econometric models used to estimate expected credit losses and their significant assumptions. Such significant assumptions included the weighting of the economic forecast scenarios, the selection of macroeconomic variables, and risk ratings. The assessment also included evaluation of the qualitative loss factors. In addition, auditor judgment was required to evaluate the sufficiency of audit evidence obtained.

The following are the primary procedures we performed to address this critical audit matter. We evaluated the design and tested the operating effectiveness of certain internal controls related to the Company’s measurement of the collective ALL, including controls related to the:

We evaluated the Company’s process to develop the collective ALL by testing certain sources of data, factors, and assumptions used, and considered the relevance and reliability of such data, factors, and assumptions. In addition, we involved credit risk professionals with specialized skills and knowledge, who assisted in:

We also assessed the sufficiency of audit evidence obtained related to the collective ALL by evaluating the:

/s/ KPMG LLP

We have served as the Company’s auditor since 1991.

Los Angeles, California

February 27, 2026