Same mission, new millennium

Straits Times

2 days ago

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From financing rubber traders to propelling new economy businesses: 148 years on, international connectivity remains at the core for HSBC as it supports Singapore's remarkable growth as a global financial hub
'HSBC's strength has been understanding that global connectivity is not just about moving capital – it is about building bridges between ambition and opportunity, such that in an increasingly fragmented world, doors to growth stay open,' says Wong Kee Joo, chief executive officer of HSBC Singapore.
WHEN HSBC first set up shop along the bustling Singapore River in 1877, its clerks were busy financing rubber shipments bound for distant shores. In 2025, their successors are financing new economy businesses bound for unfamiliar markets, while exploring quantum computing's potential and tapping on artificial intelligence to revolutionise banking.
The cargo may have changed, but the bank's mission has not.
'Our purpose has always been to open up a world of opportunities for clients, using our international connectivity and network,' says Wong Kee Joo, chief executive officer of HSBC Singapore.
As global trade and investment flows fragment along geopolitical lines, that connectivity has become both more complex and more valuable than ever.
Connectivity: Fuelling business growth
'International connectivity is an area where we really have an advantage,' Wong says.
With close to 5,000 trade experts across 58 markets, HSBC helps clients navigate tariff uncertainties and access new markets not just within Asean, but in Europe and the Middle East too.
In 2024, HSBC became the first global bank to partner the Singapore Business Federation to help local companies expand into India and the Middle East. The bank also launched a business guide to Asean's six major markets and key trade corridors – the Greater Bay Area, India, and the Middle East.
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New economy businesses are another growth area. HSBC launched a US$150 million venture debt offering in Singapore in 2024 to help high-growth companies scale, alongside a US$1 billion Asean Growth Fund supporting digital platform businesses.
One of these is Funding Societies, a South-east Asian digital financing platform for underbanked micro, small and medium enterprises. HSBC's total commitment to Funding Societies since their partnership began in 2022 now exceeds US$100 million.
'Singapore has become a hotbed of new economy companies, in medtech, healthtech and so on,' says Wong.
'We don't just grant loans, we lend them expertise in international markets.' When homegrown baby bottle manufacturer Hegen needed financing for its Malaysian factory, HSBC backed Hegen's vision. Today, Hegen's baby feeding products that can be repurposed for a child's changing needs are available in 24 markets globally.
Commercial success to wealth management
Business success breeds wealth, and wealth seeks sophisticated management. It is a progression HSBC Singapore knows well – commercial banking clients evolving into private banking relationships over decades.
Legacy jewellery brand BP de Silva is one such story. Banking with HSBC since 1873, the company has leveraged the bank's through milestones such as its diversification into environmental engineering through its Envipure acquisition. Chairman Sunil Amarasuriya has been a HSBC Premier private client for over two decades now.
Stories such as his – and the flow of wealth to Singapore – are why HSBC continues to invest in Singapore as an international wealth hub.
While digital banking reduces physical bank branch needs, HSBC is adding three wealth centres in 2025 to meet rising demand for bespoke advisory services from Singapore's growing affluent population.
'Banking is about trust and building long-term relationships with our customers, with digital technology as the enabler,' says Wong.
Singapore as priority market
Outside its home markets of Hong Kong and the UK, Singapore ranks among just four priority growth markets – alongside mainland China, India and the United Arab Emirates. In 2024, the group generated S$1.4 billion in profits in Singapore.
Like HSBC, Singapore serves as a connector to Asean business opportunities – it is the largest intra-regional investor and home to over 4,200 regional treasury centres and headquarters, Wong notes.
That is why the bank continues to build up strength in the city-state. HSBC is one of the few entities across the Asia-Pacific region that is a full-fledged banking business, and strategic acquisitions have reinforced this position.
HSBC Life – its insurance business – significantly scaled up its offering and breadth of distribution following the bank's largest acquisition in 10 years. When completed in 2022, the acquisition of AXA Singapore also made HSBC the only bank with an integrated insurance entity, enabling it to provide a broader set of solutions to more retail and commercial customers.
Acquiring real estate private equity firm Silk Road Property Partners in early 2024 also expanded HSBC Asset Management's Asian real estate platform and alternative investment offerings to institutional and high net worth clients.
Now, HSBC is leveraging artificial intelligence and investing in quantum computing. It has established a quantum centre of excellence in Singapore where scientists work to develop patents and products that could transform portfolio optimisation, fraud detection and cybersecurity. 'We've got tradition, but we're also very strategic with a vision for the future and the customer at the centre of what we do,' Wong says of these future-focused investments.
Quantum computing is one of the ways HSBC is collaborating with the government to pilot industry initiatives. It was the only international bank to join the Monetary Authority of Singapore, other local banks, and technology players in 2024 to trial quantum key distribution solutions seeking to address quantum computing's threats to cybersecurity.
Sustainable leadership for Singapore and the community
In another collaboration, Wong co-chairs the Singapore Sustainable Finance Association, launched in 2024 as the first cross-sector body advancing Singapore as a global sustainable finance hub. Members span financial services, corporates, academia, non-governmental organisations and industry bodies – discussing everything from blended finance to sustainable finance taxonomies.
HSBC partnered with Temasek Holdings to launch sustainable infrastructure debt financing company Pentagreen Capital in 2022, and invested in electric vehicle charging operator SP Mobility in 2025.
For Wong, this emphasis on sustainability is not just about opportunity, it is also about accountability. 'We see it as our responsibility to help companies transition, to navigate new technologies and new requirements for financing.'
Environmental stewardship extends beyond green finance. The bank's 30-year partnership with Singapore's National Parks Board (NParks) has supported conservation from Chek Jawa to the Botanic Gardens' seed bank, and earned it NParks' appreciation with the 'Papilionanda Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank' orchid – now featured in an art installation at HSBC's Singapore headquarters.
Sports is another way the bank invests in its communities. Globally, HSBC partners five Olympic sports – golf, rugby, badminton, football and tennis – using its international reach to showcase the best of Singapore to the world. It has presented the HSBC Women's World Championship in Singapore since 2008, the Singapore Rugby Sevens since 2016, and the Badminton World Federation Series in Singapore since 2019.
Junior golfers attending a kids' golf clinic conducted by top golfers, on the sidelines of the HSBC Women's World Championship 2024.
PHOTO: HSBC
'Sports can be transformative for Singapore's youth, inspiring young people to aspire to professional sporting careers,' Wong explains.
Stewarding legacy
Legacy is what's on the minds of Wong and his leadership team. 'We see ourselves as stewards; how do we leave this business in a better place than when we first received it?' he says.
Apart from investing in future technologies such as quantum computing, Wong believes there is a need to have a 'deep bench strength' of talent. Of its 4,000 Singapore-based employees, 80 per cent are Singaporeans and permanent residents.
HSBC Singapore employees celebrate long-service awards for milestones of 15 years and beyond with the bank.
PHOTO: HSBC
'Singapore is a very open economy, it's important that we build people rooted here,' says Wong. He believes HSBC plays a key role by actively supporting Singaporeans in building international careers through the bank's global network, developing talent that will return to strengthen Singapore's financial services ecosystem.
As HSBC Singapore approaches its 150th anniversary in 2027, the challenge remains: How does a bank with deep historical roots serve clients' ever-changing needs? The answer, Wong suggests, lies in the same principle that guided the early bankers along the Singapore River. 'HSBC's strength has been understanding that global connectivity is not just about moving capital – it is about building bridges between ambition and opportunity, such that in an increasingly fragmented world, doors to growth stay open.'
The first century: 1880s – 1990s
HSBC provided instrumental support to Singapore's early trade and post-war industrial development.
The Singapore office issued banknotes in six languages from 1881 to 1909.
From its headquarters along the Singapore River, the bank quickly expanded its branch network across the island.
The next century: 2000s – present
The HSBC lions, Stephen and Stitt, named after former senior executives, symbolise security and protection.
As part of its long-term commitment to the Lion City, HSBC subsidiarised its Singapore retail banking and wealth management business in 2016.
In 2022, HSBC moved to its new head office at Marina Bay Financial Centre and in 2025, opened three new wealth centres.
148 years since it first set up an office in Singapore, HSBC continues to connect customers to global opportunities.