Exhibit 31.1

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER SECTION 302 CERTIFICATION

I,
David I. Rainer, certify that:

1. I have reviewed this annual report on Form 10-K of CU BANCORP;

2. Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the
statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this annual report;

3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the
financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this annual report;

4. The
registrants other certifying officer and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined
in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and have:

a. Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused
such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the registrant, is made known to us by others within the registrant, particularly during the period in which this report is
being prepared;

b. Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be
designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;

c. Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrants disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about
the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and

d. Disclosed in this report any change in the registrants internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the
registrants fourth fiscal quarter that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrants internal control over financial reporting; and

5. The registrants other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to
the registrants auditors and the audit committee of the registrants board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):

a. All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal controls over financial reporting which are
reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrants ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and

b.
Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the registrants internal controls over financial reporting.



|                     |  |  |  |                        
|-------------------- |  |  |  | -----------------------
|DATE: April 29, 2015 |  |  |  | /s/ DAVID I. RAINER    
|                     |  |  |  | DAVID I. RAINER        
|                     |  | 
|                     |  |  |  | Chief Executive Officer