Is East West Bancorp, Inc. (EWBC) stock halal?

East West Bancorp, Inc. is not considered halal under the mainstream standards. HalalGauge screens EWBC under AAOIFI, Mufti Taqi Usmani, S&P DJIM, Ja'fari and the strict view, citing every threshold to its primary source.

Is EWBC halal under Mufti Taqi Usmani?

Under Mufti Taqi Usmani's methodology, EWBC is not halal. Impermissible income / revenue 91.6% (limit 5%); Illiquid (tangible) assets / total assets 0.0% (limit 20%)

EWBC · Financial Services

East West Bancorp, Inc.

Is East West Bancorp, Inc. (EWBC) halal?

East West Bancorp, Inc. is not considered halal under the mainstream standards. Below is the verdict under each of the five mainstream scholarly standards, with the deciding numbers and the source behind every threshold.

EWBC verdict by standard · 0 halal · 3 borderline · 2 not halal

AAOIFI Standard
Impermissible income / revenue 91.6% (limit 5%)
Borderline
Mufti Taqi Usmani (stricter Hanafi)
Impermissible income / revenue 91.6% (limit 5%); Illiquid (tangible) assets / total assets 0.0% (limit 20%)
Not halal
Dow Jones Islamic Market
Impermissible income / revenue 91.6% (limit 5%)
Borderline
Ja'fari (Sistani-aligned)
Impermissible income / revenue 91.6% (limit 5%)
Borderline
Strict / zero-tolerance
Impermissible income / revenue 91.6% (limit 0%); Interest-bearing debt / market cap 17.5% (limit 0%); Cash + interest-bearing securities / market cap 3.6% (limit 0%)
Not halal

The numbers behind the verdict

Interest-bearing debt / market cap: 17.5%
Cash + securities / market cap: 3.6%
Receivables / market cap: 1.7%
Impermissible income / revenue: 91.6%
Illiquid (tangible) assets / total: 0.0%

Thresholds and methodology differ by scholar — e.g. AAOIFI caps interest-bearing debt at 30% of market cap, DJIM at 33%, and Mufti Taqi additionally requires tangible assets to be at least 20% of total assets. That's why two screeners can disagree on the same stock.

Screen EWBC interactively See the full balance sheet How the methodologies work

Sources

AAOIFI: AAOIFI Shariah Standard No. 21 (Financial Papers — Shares and Bonds)
Mufti Taqi: Mufti Taqi Usmani — published equity-screening rulings (illiquid-asset rule)
DJIM: S&P Dow Jones Islamic Market Indices — Index Methodology (Shariah Screening)
Ja'fari: Ayatollah Sistani — Code of Practice (sistani.org)
Strict: Minority scholars holding zero-tolerance on riba exposure
Financials: Q1 2026 filing

Other Financial Services tickers

Is BRK-B halal?Is BRK-A halal?Is BRK.B halal?Is JPM halal?Is V halal?Is MA halal?

HalalGauge surfaces published scholarly methodologies with full sourcing; it does not issue fatwa or certify any security as halal. Verify with a qualified scholar before investing.