Robert Harrison

Chairman of the Board, President & Chief Executive Officer, First Hawaiian

Search every verified Robert Harrison interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. In October 2025, Harrison testified before the Senate Banking Committee, where he expressed support for raising the deposit insurance limit to $20 million, calling it "helpful." He said he believed some smaller banks would not need the increase and that larger banks, which "currently have coverage for free," would "likely push back." Harrison also stated that his "bigger concern is the aggregation of deposits." During the hearing, he noted that he had led a committee of banks of various sizes and learned that larger institutions have "liquidity requirements" that are "very different than mine at $700 million a year." Harrison has also spoken about Hawaii's economy and the role of First Hawaiian Bank. In a 2021 interview, he described the Paycheck Protection Program as "phenomenally successful," noting that the bank processed roughly 6,000 loans in the first round and nearly $460 million in a second round. He said the bank faced criticism from the investment community for granting loan deferrals to nearly 30 percent of its borrowers during the pandemic, but that the "vast majority" had returned to payment. He has also discussed the state's housing shortage, stating that Hawaii has been "under supplying housing for kind of 15 or 20 years" and that the median single-family home price on Oahu was $950,000. Separately, in a 2021 video, Harrison highlighted the bank's long-standing sponsorship of the Sony Open in Hawaii, saying the tournament raises money for the community and is "one of the very few pro sports that are in Hawaii."