Latest news with #OCBC-affiliated
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
OCBC's next CEO shows the Singaporean bank is still betting on ASEAN-China ties for growth
OCBC, one of Singapore's Big Three banks, will have a new CEO come 2026. On Friday, OCBC announced that Tan Teck Long, its current head of wholesale banking, will take over as CEO on Jan. 1, 2026, replacing Helen Wong. 'After a rigorous global search, the Board unanimously agreed that Teck Long was the best candidate to take the helm,' said OCBC chair Andrew Lee in a statement. 'There will be no disruption to OCBC's corporate strategic direction of becoming an integrated financial services powerhouse,' he added. OCBC, No. 13 on Fortune's Southeast Asia 500, wants to leverage financial flows between Southeast Asia and China, which are expected to grow as the world's second-largest economy looks for new trading partners. While all three of Singapore's major banks—DBS, OCBC and UOB—have a presence in China, OCBC under current CEO Wong is perhaps most focused on tying together its China and ASEAN businesses. Chinese companies are investing heavily in Southeast Asia, both as a way to diversify their supply chains and find new markets for their goods and services. China and ASEAN are now each other's largest trading partners. OCBC's CEO-to-be comes with a wealth of China experience, including a five-year stint leading DBS's institutional banking business in China. He also currently serves as a board director at two OCBC-affiliated financial institutions in mainland China, the Bank of Ningbo and Maxwealth Fund Management Company. OCBC's shares rose by 0.7% on Monday, the first trading day since the bank announced Tan's appointment as CEO. Tan joined OCBC in 2022, just a year after his soon-to-be former boss took over the CEO role. He currently leads its global wholesale banking business, which contributed the largest share of OCBC's income last year, at 42%. He jumped ship after nearly three decades at rival bank DBS, where he most recently served as its chief risk officer. OCBC's global wholesale banking revenue grew by 35% under Tan's tenure. OCBC also reported a nearly 30% year-on-year rise in new customers that were Chinese companies hoping to enter the ASEAN market, according to its latest annual report. Helen Wong became the first woman to lead one of Singapore's major banks upon her appointment as CEO in 2021. Under her tenure, OCBC reported record profits for three consecutive years, with strong growth across its banking, wealth management, and insurance businesses. Wong first worked for OCBC as a management trainee in 1981. She then moved to HSBC, eventually rising to become the UK bank's Greater China CEO in 2015. She returned to OCBC to serve as its head of global wholesale banking, the role her successor now holds. During her tenure, she also tried to take Great Eastern Holdings, Singapore's largest life insurance provider, private. OCBC currently has a 94% stake in the company, yet Great Eastern's remaining shareholders rejected a take-private plan last week. Wong 'sharpened OCBC's competitive edge as an integrated financial services group by ushering in a well-defined corporate strategy,' OCBC chair Lee said in his statement. OCBC's shares have risen over 40% since Wong's appointment as CEO, with much of the improvement happening in the past year. Yet OCBC's shares have lagged rival DBS, whose shares rose over 70% over the same period. Wong has cited family reasons for her retirement, but will continue to serve as chair of OCBC China and a board director of OCBC Hong Kong. This story was originally featured on Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Business Times
5 days ago
- Business
- Business Times
Who is Tan Teck Long, the former DBS veteran who is OCBC's incoming CEO?
[SINGAPORE] OCBC has announced that its chief executive Helen Wong, 64, will retire on Dec 31, 2025. Its head of global wholesale banking, Tan Teck Long, 55, will take over the role on Jan 1, 2026. He brings with him a deep knowledge of the China market, an important prong of the bank's China-Asean strategy. As part of a smooth transition over the next 6 months, Tan – who joined OCBC in 2022 – will take on an additional role of deputy CEO at South-east Asia's second largest bank. In a statement on Friday (Jul 11), OCBC board chairman Andrew Lee said: 'After a rigorous global search, the board unanimously agreed that Teck Long was the best candidate to take the helm.' A veteran banker from DBS Tan joined OCBC in 2022 from DBS, where he had been for close to 30 years. At South-east Asia's largest bank, he last held the role of chief risk officer. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Prior to that, he was head of DBS' corporate bank and chief operating officer of the institutional bank from January 2016 to June 2018. He was also head of DBS's institutional banking group in China from September 2011 to January 2016. His other senior roles at DBS included the group head of special assets management and group head of corporate real estate strategy and administration. OCBC previously said it hired Tan as part of its regular review of its senior management bench-strength to ensure that its top executives remain relevant to the bank's strategic objectives. Tan had been identified through a search conducted by an independent external executive search firm. He was also assessed by OCBC's board of directors and was found to have the 'requisite knowledge and experience for the position'. Roles at OCBC Tan's role as head of global wholesale banking at OCBC is responsible for all banking relationships with its wholesale customers – small-and medium enterprises, large corporates and financial institutions. He also oversees two product groups – cash management and trade under the transaction banking business; as well as the investment banking business. The wholesale banking business made up around 38 per cent of the lender's overall profit before tax in 2024. Profit before income tax for the segment was down 10 per cent to S$3.5 billion in 2024 from a decline in net interest income and higher expenses and allowances, which more than offset an increase in fee income. Tan has also been chairing the OCBC Strategic Resilience Group (SRG) since May. This group aims to calibrate OCBC's position amid continued global shifts, strengthen the bank's resilience, and improve its long-term business sustainability by seeking new growth engines. In China, he serves as a director on the boards of OCBC-affiliated Bank of Ningbo and Maxwealth Fund Management Company. Greater China-Asean flows OCBC in 2022 launched a corporate strategy to capitalise on the increasing trade and investment flows between the Greater China region and Asean. For Tan, his goal was to increase revenue from Greater China corporates operating in Asean by more than 50 per cent by 2025. He also aimed to gain more than 26,000 new small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) customers in Hong Kong over three years. OCBC will also grow its transactional banking capabilities in Greater China to achieve more than 500 regional mandates for cash management over the next five years, and double its investment banking revenue in three years. By 2025, the division saw strong revenue growth of 35 per cent, and customer growth of more than 50 per cent from 'surging' Greater China-Asean flows. According to OCBC's annual report, in 2024, the bank saw nearly 30 per cent on-year rise in new-to-bank customers that were Chinese companies entering the Asean market.
