EXHIBIT 99


July 28, 1999

IMPERIAL BANK ANNOUNCES SALE OF ITS REMAINING SHARES OF IMPERIAL CREDIT
INDUSTRIES, INC.

LOS ANGELES - CA, July 27, 1999: Imperial Bank (the "Bank"), the principal
subsidiary of Imperial Bancorp (NYSE:IMP), today announced the sale of the
remaining 5,258,570 shares it owned of Imperial Credit Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ-
ICII) ("ICII") common stock for $6.00 per share. The transaction was arranged
through Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group, Inc. The sale will result in a pretax
loss of approximately $2.8 million, which will be reported in the third quarter.

Norman P. Creighton, Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Imperial Bank,
stated, "We are pleased that with this sale of 5.3 million shares, the Bank has
completed the sale of its entire stake in ICII stock. This transaction improves
our ability to focus on the growth of our core commercial banking franchise and
its profitability."

The Bank announced its intention to sell its shares of ICII in a 13D filing with
the Securities and Exchange Commission in December 1998.

With over $6 billion in assets, Imperial Bank is one of the leading independent
business banks headquartered in California and offers a wide range of financial
services tailored to corporate customers, entrepreneurs and professionals.
Serving mid-sized businesses, Imperial Bank's strategy focuses on delivering
customized financial products and services to manufacturing, distribution,
wholesale, service, import/export, apparel and textile businesses; in addition
to some of the fastest growing industries such as emerging technology,
entertainment, residential construction, and title and escrow. Founded in 1963
by two California entrepreneurs, Imperial Bank is the principal subsidiary of
Imperial Bancorp (NYSE - IMP), with 12 regional banking offices located
throughout California; in Phoenix, Arizona; and in Denver, Colorado. In
addition, Imperial has emerging growth loan offices in Irvine, Menlo Park and
San Diego, California; Boston, Massachusetts; Austin, Texas; Reston, Virginia;
and Bellevue, Washington. Imperial can be found on the Web at
www.imperialbank.com
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Press Inquires
Ann Abajian                          Robert Galea
Public Relations Director            Senior Vice President
Public Relations Firm: Kaiser McEu   Imperial Bank: Marketing / Public Relations
310.479.8999                         310.338.6111

    Address:
    Imperial Bank Executive Offices
    PO Box 92991
    Los Angeles, California 90009-2991
    800.957.8483