A generation of "financial giants" has fallen.
On 3 February, Singapore's United Overseas Bank Group (UOB) announced that Ng Cho Yew, Honorary Chairman and Advisor of UOB Group, passed away at the age of 95. A visionary banker, prominent businessman and a pillar of society, Mr Wong has played a vital role in UOB's development into a leading bank in Asia.
Figure: UOB official website.
As of the latest**, UOB's total market capitalisation is approximately 478S$700 million (about RMB 260 billion). According to the financial report, as of the first half of 2023, UOB's assets are as high as 5,055S$600 million (about RMB 2.7 trillion).
Singapore's banking tycoon has passed away
At noon on 3 February, UOB announced that its Honorary Chairman and Advisor, Dr Wee Cho Yiu, had passed away at the age of 95.
UOB said that Mr Ng Cho Yew was a visionary banker, a prominent businessman and a pillar of society who played a key role in the development of UOB into a leading bank in Asia.
According to public information, Huang Zuyao was born in Kinmen, Fujian Province in 1929, a famous entrepreneur who served as the chairman of the United Overseas Bank Group in Singapore. He is a wealthy Singaporean Chinese financial man after Guo Fangfeng and Lee Chengwei. He is also the President of the Singapore Business Federation, the Chairman of the Hokkien Huay Kuan, the Chairman of Sin Chew**, a Chinese newspaper in Singapore, and a former Chairman of the Board of Governors of Nanyang University.
According to Brokerage China, Wong Cho Yew is a legend in Singapore's financial industry and is known as Singapore's most senior and accomplished banker. He became a director of UOB in 1958 at the age of 29.
In 1974, the founder of UOB and the father of Wong Cho Yiu, Wong Hing Cheong, retired, and the 45-year-old was promoted to chairman. In 2007, Mr Wong stepped down as Chief Executive of UOB and continued to serve as Chairman. In 2013, he stepped down as Chairman and became Honorary Chairman and Advisor to UOB.
In addition to banking, Wong's business empire includes real estate, with companies including UOL, UIC, Pan Pacific Hotels Group and Haw Par Corporation.
According to the "2023 Hurun Global Rich List" released by the Hurun Research Institute, Huang Zuyao ranks 333rd on the list with a wealth of 51 billion yuan.
According to the real-time net worth news published by the American business magazine Forbes,As of Friday (February 2), Huang Zuyao's net worth was as high as 7.2 billion US dollars (about 51.8 billion yuan).Last year, it ranked 8th in Singapore and 359th in the list of the world's richest people.
In fact, the Wong Cho Yew family has a pivotal position in Singapore's financial sector, according to the China ** newspaper. Wong Cho Yew is perennially ranked in the top 10 of Singapore's richest list. Since the founding of UOB by Wong's father, Wong Hing Cheong, the family has been involved in the financial industry for nearly 100 years.
Huang Zuyao is known as Singapore's "financial giant".
According to brokerage China, Huang Zuyao is a household name in Singapore, known as Singapore's "financial giant", and was once awarded the title of "Singapore's outstanding businessman".
According to public reports, in 1958, at the age of 29, Wong Cho Yew was transferred to UOB by his father, Wong Hing Cheong, as a director. In order to better understand the financial industry, Wong Cho Yiu continued to learn about banking and went to a bank in the United Kingdom to study and study.
In 1960, Wong Keng Cheong resigned as General Manager of UOB and was unanimously recommended by the Board of Directors as his successor, and began to gradually take over the bank's operations. At just 31 years old, he ushered in a new era for UOB.
At that time, Singapore's banks were basically providing credit facilities to local businesses and businesses, and had no plans to expand overseas. At the beginning of his tenure, Mr Wong decided to expand his overseas business and set up a foreign exchange department at UOB to provide foreign exchange trading services.
In 1965, Singapore declared independence and decided to vigorously develop international financial business, and the local banking industry ushered in new development opportunities. UOB has set up new divisions such as the Asian Dollar Markets and ** Division.
In 1970, UOB was officially listed, becoming the first publicly listed bank in Singapore.
Later, Mr Wong led UOB through a series of capital acquisitions: Lever Bank in 1972, Far Eastern Bank in 1984, Industrial and Commercial Bank of Singapore in 1987 and OUE Bank in 2001.
Among them, the largest acquisition planned by Huang Zuyao was in 2001, beating DBS Bank, which has a leading background, and "friendly" took control of Hualian Bank. Following the acquisition, UOB became the largest domestic bank in Singapore for a time.
Singapore's banking industry has evolved from the original "Seven Heroes of the Warring States" to the "Three Kingdoms", during which there have been ups and downs in the past two or three decades, and Huang Zuyao has always been a powerful figure.
Under the leadership of Mr Wong, UOB has grown from a small bank to a large multinational conglomerate.
Headquartered in Singapore, UOB has wholly owned corporate banks in China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, with about 500 branches and offices in 19 countries and regions across Asia Pacific, Europe and North America, according to China ** Daily.
Since its inception in 1935, UOB has expanded through its own development and a series of strategic acquisitions. Today, UOB is ranked as one of the world's top banks: Moody's has an "AA1" rating, S&P International Ratings and Fitch have an "AA-" rating.
Figure: UOB announcement.
UOB reported a core net profit of $16.6 billion in the first half of last year
According to UOB's announcement, the bank achieved a core net profit of S$3.1 billion (about RMB 16.6 billion) in the first half of 2023, a year-on-year increase of 53%. UOB said the growth was driven by diversified business growth, among other things. Excluding the one-time expenditure on the acquisition of Citigroup's retail business, the group's net profit for the first half of the year was S$2.9 billion (about RMB 15.5 billion).
UOB's retail revenue in the first half of 2023 was S$2.7 billion (about 14.4 billion yuan), up 58% year-on-year. According to the announcement, with the continued high consumer sentiment and the blessing of the acquired retail business of Citigroup, credit card fee income has increased significantly. Group retail deposits increased by 20% year-on-year.
"The steady progress of Citigroup's retail acquisitions has further strengthened our market strength, broadened our customer base, expanded our global partnership opportunities and enhanced our diversified customer offerings. ”
Figure: UOB announcement.
In 2022, UOB announced its intention to acquire Citigroup's retail banking business in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, including secured and unsecured lending, wealth management and retail deposits. As part of the proposed acquisition, UOB will also take over staff from Citigroup's relevant local retail business units. The acquisition will further deepen UOB's presence in Southeast Asia.
*丨Brokerage China, China ** newspaper, public information.
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This issue is edited by Li Yutong.
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