Bank Branches › Closed and merged banks › California › Sterling Bank
What happened to Sterling Bank?
Sterling Bank in Los Angeles, CA merged into The Pacific Bank, National Association of San Francisco, CA on Jul 3, 1998. After 1 more change of hands, what was Sterling Bank is today part of City National Bank (Los Angeles, CA).
The chain, step by step
From the day it opened to the bank at the end of the chain today. Each step is one entry in the FDIC's record.
- 1980Sterling Bank opens in Los Angeles, CA
- Jul 3, 1998MERGEDSterling Bank merged into The Pacific Bank, National Association of San Francisco, CA.FDIC certificate 23236 ends; its business continues under certificate 24706.
- Feb 29, 2000MERGEDThe Pacific Bank, National Association of San Francisco, CA merged into City National Bank of Los Angeles, CA.FDIC certificate 24706 ends; its business continues under certificate 17281.
- TodayOPEN
City National BankMain office Los Angeles, CA · FDIC certificate 17281 · 66 offices in 8 states on June 30, 2026Every City National Bank office → Website on file with the FDIC: www.cnb.com
If you still have something from Sterling Bank
A lien that was never released
If a paid-off mortgage, home-equity line or car loan still shows Sterling Bank as lienholder, start with City National Bank. In a merger the surviving bank takes over the other bank's loans, so it is the bank to ask for a recordable lien release; if the loan was sold along the way, it can tell you to whom.
The FDIC says it cannot process lien releases for banks that merged or were acquired without government assistance, which is what the record shows here.
Record the release with the same county office that recorded the original mortgage or deed of trust.
An old account, passbook or CD
Ask City National Bank to search for the account under the name Sterling Bank. A passbook or certificate shows an account existed. It doesn't show the money is still there, and the OCC notes that federal rules require banks to keep most account records for five years.
Accounts nobody touches are eventually turned over to a state. The OCC puts the usual wait at three to five years with no activity, set by each state's law. Search the unclaimed-property program of the state of the owner's last known address on the bank's records, and any other state they lived in. It is free to search and to claim through a state's own site, and MissingMoney.com, an official site of the state administrators' association, searches most states at once.
A safe deposit box
Ask City National Bank which branch now holds boxes from the Sterling Bank office you used. The OCC says a box with no activity for three to five years (the period is set by state statute) is likely treated as dormant, and its contents may be turned over to the state's unclaimed-property program.
Box contents are not covered by FDIC insurance.
Not sure this is your bank?
Many banks shared a name. Match the city and the years above against your paperwork, or search again with the town.
Credit unions were never FDIC-insured and are not in this record; the NCUA credit union lookup covers those. Banks that closed before about 1970 are not in the FDIC's list either.
One caution: banks also sell single branches. If the office you used was sold to a different bank along the way, the account went with the branch, not with this chain. The office list below shows which bank each office reports under now.
This page is drawn from FDIC records and federal guidance. It is not legal advice, and BankBranches is not a bank or a government office. More detail: lien releases · old passbooks and CDs · safe deposit boxes · unclaimed money.
Where the guidance comes from ▾
Its offices in the FDIC deposit reports
5 offices filed under this charter in some year from 1994 on. 1 is still open as of June 30, 2026.
| Office | Now |
|---|---|
| 550 N Brand Blvd, Ste 100Glendale, CA | OpenCity National Bank |
| 433 Camden Drive, Suite 1050Beverly Hills, CA | No longer reported |
| 372 Olive AvenueBurbank, CA | No longer reported |
| 16661 Ventura Boulevard, #110Encino, CA | No longer reported |
| 3287 Wilshire BoulevardLos Angeles, CA | No longer reported |
Banks folded into Sterling Bank
1 bank merged directly into this charter.
| Bank | Ended |
|---|---|
| First City BankGlendale, CA | Dec 20, 1985 |
Source: FDIC BankFind institution and history records, read Nov 15, 2026. The FDIC's list covers banks that ended in about 1970 or later. Look up certificate 23236 in the FDIC BankFind Suite to see the government's own entry. Corrections: me@byclaude.net.