Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation

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Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited
Public company
Traded as SGX: O39
Industry Financial services
Founded 1932; 92 years ago (1932)
Headquarters OCBC Centre, Singapore
Area served
South East Asia
Key people
Ooi Sang Kuang, Chairman[1]
Samuel Tsien, CEO
Products Consumer banking
corporate banking
investment banking
global wealth management
asset management
insurance
S$4,815 million (FY2009)
S$1,962 million (FY2009)
Total assets S$224 billion (Sept 2010)
Total equity S$20 billion
Subsidiaries Refer to Subsidiaries
Slogan Singapore's longest established local bank
Website www.ocbc.com
The OCBC Centre, located on the southern bank of the Singapore River houses the corporate headquarters of OCBC Bank.

Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited (SGX: O39, OTC Pink: OVCHY) (Simplified Chinese: 华侨银行有限公司), abbreviated as OCBC Bank (华侨银行), is a publicly listed financial services organisation with its head office in Singapore. Although publicly listed, OCBC Banks largest shareholder by a big margin is the Lee Group of Companies. Founded by Lee Kong Chian, the Lee family continues to exert a large influence on OCBC Bank, with two board seats occupied by Lee Seng Tee and Lee Tih Shih. OCBC Bank has assets of more than 224 billion SGD. Based on Bloomberg, in 2011 OCBC is the number one of World's 10 strongest $100 billion assets banks.[2]

The "Oversea-Chinese" usage leads many to believe mistakenly that the bank's name is misspelled, but this is the correct traditional spelling. Although it is asserted that this is the correct spelling, "oversea" rather than "overseas", which is the correct use of the word in generic English, sounds uncomfortable and clumsy to native English speakers. The bank's global network has grown to comprise subsidiaries, branches, and representative offices in 18 countries and territories. It has retail banking subsidiaries in Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, and China, and branches in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, the UK and US. OCBC's Indonesia subsidiary, Bank OCBC NISP, has 630 branches and offices.[3]

History

Former OCBC Bank in South Bridge Road, Singapore.

Founded in 1932, OCBC Bank was formed with the merger of three banks– Chinese Commercial Bank (1912), Ho Hong Bank (1917) and Oversea-Chinese Bank (1919). The bank expanded their operations under the management of local business and community leaders, notably Dato Lee Kong Chian (1938–1964), Tan Chin Tuan (1966–1983) and Lee Choon Seng (acting chairman during the Occupation) and became one of the largest banks in Singapore and Malaysia.

In 1942 during World War II, all the local banks in Singapore closed briefly during the early days of the Japanese Occupation. By April 1942 most banks, including OCBC, had resume normal operations. In Indonesia, the Japanese occupation authorities closed OCBC's branches in Sumatra. During the war, the bank moved it's head office to Bombay, India and only re-registered back in Singapore after the war ended.[4] OCBC's branch in Xiamen survived the war and in the 1950s, OCBC was one of only four foreign banks to have branches in China.[5]

After the war, OCBC re-established its branches in Djambi, Jakarta, and Surabaya. However, in 1963 conflict between Indonesia and Malaya (which then included Singapore), resulted in the closure of OCBC's branches there. That same year the revolutionary government in Burma nationalised OCBC's two branches there, which became People's Bank No. 14.[6]

The bank was criticised for not expanding fast enough to meet the needs of the post-war Chinese business community, especially in the smaller towns of Malaya. One of the critics was Tan Khoo Teck Puat, who subsequent resigned to set up Malayan Banking. By 1970, the bank's total resources exceeded 1 billion SGD, making OCBC the largest financial institution with the biggest deposit base in Singapore.

In 1972, OCBC acquired Four Seas Communications Bank, the oldest surviving bank in Singapore. The bank had been founded in 1906 as the Sze Hai Tong Bank and its founders had targeted the Teochew community. The bank had branches in Hong Kong and in Bangkok, where it had become the first Chinese bank there when it opened its branch in 1909.

The next major acquisition occurred in 2001, when OCBC Bank acquired Keppel Capital Holdings and all its subsidiaries, including Keppel TatLee Bank, Keppel Securities, and Keppel TatLee Finance. The next year OCBC operationally and legally integrated Keppel TatLee Bank. In 2003 OCBC merged OCBC Finance into OCBC Bank.

The official opening of e2 Power's Cyberjaya Office occurred in 2004. The same year saw the unofficial opening of OCBC Bank's new corporate HQ in Kuala Lumpur, and announced merger of asset management operations of OAM with Straits Lion Asset Management. OCBC opened an off-shore branch in Brunei.

In 2006 OCBC completed acquisition of a 10% stake in Vietnam's VP Bank. VP Bank's full name is Vietnam Prosperity Joint-Stock Commercial Bank (formerly known as Vietnam Joint-Stock Commercial Bank for Private Enterprises) and it was established on 12 August 1993. Its headquarters are in Hanoi, and it has over 30 branches throughout Vietnam.

  • 2007: Commencement of business of OCBC China.
  • 2008: Acquired 67% shareholding in PacificMas Berhad.
  • 2012: Heng Sou Sun promoted to Acting Chief Information Technology Officer of OCBC Bank Group.

On 22 November 2013, OCBC completed the transfer of its entire 14.88% stake in VP Bank to local individual investors.

Subsidiaries

Main branch of OCBC
File:OCBC Bank Tampines Centre.JPG
OCBC Bank Tampines Centre, located in Tampines Central, Singapore
OCBC Bank Malaysia branch head office in Kuala Lumpur.
OCBC Bank in Ipoh, Malaysia.
OCBC Wing Hang Bank Queen's Road Central Branch in Hong Kong.

OCBC Securities

OCBC Securities Private Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of OCBC Bank, and is a member of the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited (SGX-ST) and the Singapore Exchange Derivatives Trading Limited (SGX-DT).

Great Eastern Holdings

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In 2004, OCBC Great Eastern Holdings (GEH) following a voluntary cash offer. GEH had $53.1 billion in assets and 3.8 million policyholders as at 30 September 2010. GEH operates two distribution channels – the tied agency force and bancassurance. The company also operates in China, Indonesia, Vietnam and Brunei.

Lion Global Investors (LGI)

OCBC launched LGI in September 2005 following the merger of the asset management arms of OCBC Bank and Great Eastern Holdings. Lion Global Investors had total assets under management of about S$29.4 billion as at 30 September 2010.[7]

Bank of Singapore

Bank of Singapore, (formerly ING Asia Private Bank), is a wholly owned private banking subsidiary of OCBC Bank. With a branch in Hong Kong and offices in Manila and Dubai, Bank of Singapore serves high-net-worth individuals and wealthy families of China, Europe, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, the Middle East, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand, as well as global Non-Resident Indians. OCBC acquired ING Asia Private Bank on 29 January 2010 and renamed it Bank of Singapore.

Singapore Island Bank

Singapore Island Bank Limited is a full-licensed bank and a wholly owned subsidiary of OCBC Bank. Singapore Island Bank has S$100 million in capital, and is governed under the Banking Laws and Regulation in Singapore. It houses finatiQ, which operates as an Internet bank.

Singapore Island Bank was formerly known as Bank of Singapore, and OCBC acquired it in 2000. On 29 January 2010, OCBC Bank completed its acquisition of ING Asia Private Bank and renamed it Bank of Singapore. OCBC renamed the bank that housed finatiQ, Singapore Island Bank to differentiate these two separate businesses to avoid confusion.

Bank OCBC NISP

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In 2004, OCBC Bank acquired a 22.5% stake in PT Bank NISP Tbk ("Bank NISP"), its joint-venture partner in PT OCBC Indonesia since 1996. With the completion of this transaction, Bank NISP became an associate company of OCBC Bank. Bank NISP was ranked the 12th largest Indonesian bank by assets and had a network of 135 branches and offices and, over 3,000 shared ATMs.

In the same year, OCBC Bank purchased an additional 28.5% stake in Bank NISP, raising its shareholding in Bank NISP to 51%. OCBC Bank subsequently raised its stake to 70.62% in 2005. By 2008, it had increased its stake in Bank NISP to 74.73%. In 2008, Bank NISP changed its name to Bank OCBC NISP.

As of 30 September 2010, Bank OCBC NISP had 5,995 employees, total assets of Rp 40.2 trillion, and served customers through a network of 411 offices in 62 cities and 576 ATMs throughout Indonesia. Its customers could also use more than 37,500 ATMs (including ATMs belonging to ATM Bersama, Bank Central Asia, OCBC Bank in Singapore, and BankCard in Malaysia). Subsequently, in November 2010, OCBC Indonesia merged with OCBC NISP.[8]

Ningbo Commercial Bank

In 2006 the bank acquired a 12.2% stake in China's Ningbo Commercial Bank.

OCBC Al-Amin Bank Berhad

OCBC wholly owns OCBC Al-Amin Bank, which offers Islamic banking products and services in Malaysia. OCBC had offered Islamic banking products and services since 1995. Finally, on 1 December 2008 OCBC launched OCBC Al-Amin Bank Berhad. OCBC Al-Amin offers products and services based on the applicable Shariah contract and with the endorsement of the Shariah Advisory Committee.

OCBC Bank (China)

OCBC China has 17 branches on the mainland and in Hong Kong. OCBC's presence in China dates back to 1925 when it opened a branch in Xiamen. In 2007 OCBC established its wholly owned subsidiary with headquarters in Shanghai.

OCBC Wing Hang Bank

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In March 2014, OCBC Bank offered to pay nearly US$5 Billion for Wing Hang Bank, one of Hong Kong's last family-owned banks.[9] Wing Hang is the eighth-largest lender in Hong Kong. It has 42 branches in Hong Kong, 15 on the mainland, and 13 in Macau. Under the Hong Kong Companies Ordinance, OCBC Bank, with 97.52 percent of Wing Hang's shares, compulsorily acquired Wing Hang on 29 July 2014.

On 1 October 2014, Wing Hang Bank was rebranded as OCBC Wing Hang Bank to reflect its integration into the OCBC family.[10]

Select Securities Limited (Hong Kong)

In November 1960, OCBC established an investment holding company named as Select Securities Limited. The company is based in Hong Kong, Hong Kong. Select Securities Limited operates as a subsidiary of Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. Ltd.

Recognition

  • Most Attractive Employer 2013 (Banking & Finance sector): Randstad Award 2013
  • Best Bank in Singapore: Global Finance Best Developed Market Banks 2013
  • Bloomberg has ranked OCBC Bank as the world's strongest bank in 2011, 2012.
  • Bloomberg has ranked OCBC Bank as the world's 2nd strongest bank in 2013.
  • Bank of the Year 2012, Singapore The Banker.
  • Singapore Corporate Governance – Big Cap Category (Merit): SIAS Investors' Choice Awards 2012
  • Internal Audit Excellence (Merit): SIAS Investors' Choice Awards 2012
  • Koh Eng Kheng Eminent Benefactor: Singapore Children’s Society 2012
  • Best Managed Board (Market Capitalisation of S$1 billion & above) – Gold Award: Singapore Corporate Awards 2012
  • Among the World's 50 Safest Banks: Global Finance 2012
  • Best People Manager, awarded by Singapore Human Resources Institute, for Heng Sou Sun

Citations and references

Citations
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  4. The Straits Times, 31 Oct 1972, p. 4. October, 31, 1972. Retrieved 15 November 2015
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  6. Turnell (2009), p.226.
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References
  • Turnell, Sean (2009) Fiery Dragons: Banks, Moneylenders and Microfinnance in Burma. (NAIS Press). ISBN 9788776940409

External links