Latest news with #HelenWong
Straits Times
23-05-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
Great Eastern gets another extension to June 8 to announce plan to restore free float
Great Eastern has until Jun 8 to announce its finalised proposal to comply with listing rules, its bourse filing on May 23 indicated. PHOTO: ST FILE Great Eastern gets another extension to June 8 to announce plan to restore free float SINGAPORE - Great Eastern Holdings has been granted yet another extension of time to comply with free float requirements under the Singapore Exchange's (SGX) listing rules. The insurer now has until Jun 8 to announce its finalised proposal to comply with listing rules, its bourse filing on May 23 indicated. It was previously granted an extension in January 2025, and in October 2024. Great Eastern said it has been exploring various options to formulate a proposal to meet with the requirements which can address the interests of stakeholders, and has made 'significant progress in formulating a proposal'. It will issue an announcement to update shareholders on the finalised proposal 'shortly', no later than Jun 8, it added. Shares of Great Eastern have been suspended from trading since July 2024, after the counter lost its free float following a takeover bid by its majority shareholder OCBC. Last May, OCBC made a voluntary unconditional general offer of $1.4 billion for the remaining 11.56 per cent stake in Great Eastern that it did not already own, with the aim to delist the insurer. At the close of the offer in July 2024, the bank held 93.52 per cent of the insurer, falling short of the shareholding it needed to delist Great Eastern, or to compulsorily acquire the rest of the shares. In January, it was reported that OCBC's chief executive Helen Wong met with Mr Wong Hong Sun, his brother Hong Yen, as well as representatives of Mr Lee Thor Seng and his family, who are long-time shareholders of Great Eastern with a combined 3 per cent stake. The offer was deemed 'not fair but reasonable' by the independent financial adviser for the deal. THE BUSINESS TIMES Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Business Times
23-05-2025
- Business
- Business Times
OCBC's Helen Wong bags ‘outstanding CEO' at SBA; credits ‘one group' banking approach
[SINGAPORE] Being a basketball player in her youth imbued Helen Wong with a strong belief in the power of teamwork, something she has carried over to her role as chief executive of OCBC. Wong said the combination of people with the right capabilities and the same ambition can bring about maximum value. Hence, when she led OCBC's corporate strategy refresh in 2022, the Hong Kong-born banker put forward a plan to leverage OCBC's strength across Asean and Greater China – through a 'one group' approach. That is, to provide an integrated customer experience across the financial group's business through collaboration across each of its functions. 'When people can work together, your client trusts you even more, because everything they do with us becomes smoother,' Wong said in an interview with The Business Times. Wong became the first woman to head one of the Big Three Singapore banks, when she was appointed OCBC's group CEO in April 2021. SEE ALSO TDCX founder Laurent Junique wins top prize at 40th Singapore Business Awards GET BT IN YOUR INBOX DAILY Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up VIEW ALL This marks her second stint at OCBC – she first joined as a management trainee in 1984. A former HSBC veteran who spent most of her career in Hong Kong, her previous role as CEO for Greater China at HSBC largely involved linking China and Hong Kong to the rest of the world, Wong said. Then came OCBC, which was founded in 1932 and has long been present in both the Asean and Greater China regions, especially the two financial centres of Singapore and Hong Kong. Wong said she always saw opportunities to connect the two regions, given the backdrop that intra-Asian flows have been dominant since 2015. Asean has become a 'much more important' trading partner for China, since the US-China trade conflict started almost 10 years ago. At OCBC, Wong's strategy focuses on trade, investment flows and wealth growth in Asia. Wealth, she said, was an especially important driver, given the rising affluence in the region. The focus has paid off. Since the launch of the corporate strategy refresh, OCBC has seen record earnings each year. Net profit was a record S$5.7 billion in 2022; it reached a new high of S$7 billion in 2023; and the record was beaten once again in 2024 at S$7.6 billion. And the 'one group' approach has led the bank to grow at a faster compound annual growth rate (CAGR) than its peers, she said. Another contributor is the influx of Chinese companies expanding to Asean as they build their supply chains and expand into domestic markets. While Wong acknowledged that OCBC benefited from higher interest rates in recent years, she said it was crucial to invest in the bank's capabilities to build an operation that can function regardless of the rate environment. 'It is not just the presence; it's whether you have the ability to link it up,' Wong said. Linking people is always the most challenging, as most people are familiar with their own domestic markets and are comfortable operating in them. 'But we are allowing our people to understand more – that you can have a bigger conversation with your customers, you can help them, and you can speak in one language,' she said. 'And today, after a couple of years of effort, I can see that people truly feel that we are together as one group – and this is both the frontline and the support units.' Growth across the bank Wong was named Outstanding Chief Executive of the Year at the Singapore Business Awards on Thursday (May 22). Under her leadership, OCBC made significant progress in various areas, including its Asean and Greater China links, sustainability targets, talent development and technology investments. But this was not without effort. The bank had to relook at its organisational structure, and implemented the metric, 'collaboration dollars' – a measure of the level of cooperation among staff. It relaunched its brand, putting all its operations across Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong and China under the single 'OCBC' brand. For staff, it created messaging about the bank's purpose, values and ambition, and trained them to collaborate. 'We built a very clear responsibility grid, which means that for a relationship manager: if you are able to create value in other countries, even not in your local book, you are recognised,' she said. This led to the use of artificial intelligence and technology, and resulted in significant process improvement. By 2024, as much as 15 per cent of its total income was attributable to collaboration dollars. Meanwhile, Wong noted five focus areas to achieve its sustainability goals: building capabilities for customers; training staff; targeting net zero for internal operations; disclosure policies; and coming up with innovative solutions. 'We have a task force for all five areas, and after one or two years, it becomes business as usual,' she said, noting that sustainable finance made up 16 per cent of its total book as at the end of 2024. 'Setting the tone is also for the whole top team to walk the talk. Because we believe in it, we support it, then everybody is aligned,' she added. Future targets The year 2025 marks the end date for OCBC's three-year goal to earn S$3 billion in additional revenue from its Asean-Greater China strategy. While Wong does not have exact targets beyond this, the plan does not stop there. 'We have a corporate strategy of eight pillars; whatever we have done will set the stage for this money to continue to come in,' she said. Beyond 2025, Wong said, 'the opportunities are still indeed in this part of the world'. Chinese companies continue to come to Asean. But the new wave is also not so much in low-cost manufacturing – as these bases have already been established – but more so in targeting the fast-growing economies of this region. Wong is also eyeing the 'banking wallet' – which is the estimated revenue for banks across Asean and Greater China. From 2023 to 2030, she expects the banking wallet in Asean to grow at a CAGR of 5 to 7 per cent, to reach S$500 billion to S$600 billion. 'A lot is about looking into the future and building a strategy to make sure we have the investments to pull people together,' she said. 'It's not a slogan; it is not just something that people say.'
Business Times
22-05-2025
- Business
- Business Times
Banking across Asean and Greater China as ‘one group'
[SINGAPORE] Being a basketball player in her youth imbued Helen Wong with a strong belief in the power of teamwork, something she has carried over to her role as chief executive of OCBC. Wong said the combination of people with the right capabilities and the same ambition can bring about maximum value. Hence, when she led OCBC's corporate strategy refresh in 2022, the Hong Kong-born banker put forward a plan to leverage OCBC's strength across Asean and Greater China – through a 'one group' approach. That is, to provide an integrated customer experience across the financial group's business through collaboration across each of its functions. 'When people can work together, your client trusts you even more, because everything they do with us becomes smoother,' Wong said in an interview with The Business Times. Wong became the first woman to head one of the Big Three Singapore banks, when she was appointed OCBC's group CEO in April 2021. SEE ALSO TDCX founder Laurent Junique wins top prize at 40th Singapore Business Awards GET BT IN YOUR INBOX DAILY Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up VIEW ALL This marks her second stint at OCBC – she first joined as a management trainee in 1984. A former HSBC veteran who spent most of her career in Hong Kong, her previous role as CEO for Greater China at HSBC largely involved linking China and Hong Kong to the rest of the world, Wong said. Then came OCBC, which was founded in 1932 and has long been present in both the Asean and Greater China regions, especially the two financial centres of Singapore and Hong Kong. Wong said she always saw opportunities to connect the two regions, given the backdrop that intra-Asian flows have been dominant since 2015. Asean has become a 'much more important' trading partner for China, since the US-China trade conflict started almost 10 years ago. At OCBC, Wong's strategy focuses on trade, investment flows and wealth growth in Asia. Wealth, she said, was an especially important driver, given the rising affluence in the region. The focus has paid off. Since the launch of the corporate strategy refresh, OCBC has seen record earnings each year. Net profit was a record S$5.7 billion in 2022; it reached a new high of S$7 billion in 2023; and the record was beaten once again in 2024 at S$7.6 billion. And the 'one group' approach has led the bank to grow at a faster compound annual growth rate (CAGR) than its peers, she said. Another contributor is the influx of Chinese companies expanding to Asean as they build their supply chains and expand into domestic markets. While Wong acknowledged that OCBC benefited from higher interest rates in recent years, she said it was crucial to invest in the bank's capabilities to build an operation that can function regardless of the rate environment. 'It is not just the presence; it's whether you have the ability to link it up,' Wong said. Linking people is always the most challenging, as most people are familiar with their own domestic markets and are comfortable operating in them. 'But we are allowing our people to understand more – that you can have a bigger conversation with your customers, you can help them, and you can speak in one language,' she said. 'And today, after a couple of years of effort, I can see that people truly feel that we are together as one group – and this is both the frontline and the support units.' Growth across the bank Wong was named Outstanding Chief Executive of the Year at the Singapore Business Awards on Thursday (May 22). Under her leadership, OCBC made significant progress in various areas, including its Asean and Greater China links, sustainability targets, talent development and technology investments. But this was not without effort. The bank had to relook at its organisational structure, and implemented the metric, 'collaboration dollars' – a measure of the level of cooperation among staff. It relaunched its brand, putting all its operations across Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong and China under the single 'OCBC' brand. For staff, it created messaging about the bank's purpose, values and ambition, and trained them to collaborate. 'We built a very clear responsibility grid, which means that for a relationship manager: if you are able to create value in other countries, even not in your local book, you are recognised,' she said. This led to the use of artificial intelligence and technology, and resulted in significant process improvement. By 2024, as much as 15 per cent of its total income was attributable to collaboration dollars. Meanwhile, Wong noted five focus areas to achieve its sustainability goals: building capabilities for customers; training staff; targeting net zero for internal operations; disclosure policies; and coming up with innovative solutions. 'We have a task force for all five areas, and after one or two years, it becomes business as usual,' she said, noting that sustainable finance made up 16 per cent of its total book as at the end of 2024. 'Setting the tone is also for the whole top team to walk the talk. Because we believe in it, we support it, then everybody is aligned,' she added. Future targets The year 2025 marks the end date for OCBC's three-year goal to earn S$3 billion in additional revenue from its Asean-Greater China strategy. While Wong does not have exact targets beyond this, the plan does not stop there. 'We have a corporate strategy of eight pillars; whatever we have done will set the stage for this money to continue to come in,' she said. Beyond 2025, Wong said, 'the opportunities are still indeed in this part of the world'. Chinese companies continue to come to Asean. But the new wave is also not so much in low-cost manufacturing – as these bases have already been established – but more so in targeting the fast-growing economies of this region. Wong is also eyeing the 'banking wallet' – which is the estimated revenue for banks across Asean and Greater China. From 2023 to 2030, she expects the banking wallet in Asean to grow at a CAGR of 5 to 7 per cent, to reach S$500 billion to S$600 billion. 'A lot is about looking into the future and building a strategy to make sure we have the investments to pull people together,' she said. 'It's not a slogan; it is not just something that people say.'
Straits Times
20-05-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
Public trust in banks in S'pore dips slightly but industry remains one of the most trusted: Survey
The Singapore banking industry remains one of the most trusted institutions locally, coming in closely behind the Government, according to the survey. ST PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG Public trust in banks in S'pore dips slightly but industry remains one of the most trusted: Survey SINGAPORE – Public trust in the Singapore banking industry dipped slightly between 2022 and 2024, according to the results of a survey released on May 20. The Banking Trust Index for Singapore (BTIS), which is in its fourth iteration, is commissioned by the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) to enable greater understanding of consumers' trust in banks and how else banks can build confidence. The latest survey was conducted by Edelman Data and Intelligence from Sept 27 to Nov 5, 2024, while the last survey was in 2022. The dip signals a slowdown in the upward trend of trust in the banking industry since 2020, the report says. The 14 participating banks attained an Edelman Net Trust Score (ENTS) of 68, down two points from 70 in the last survey in 2022. The ENTS is derived from the difference between the proportion of respondents with high trust in the banks and those with low trust. The dip reflects a significant shift in what the public prioritised for their trust in banks, with growing expectations for banks to positively impact society. On top of the ENTS, the Edelman Trust Management framework used four key pillars to study what shapes public trust – ability, integrity, dependability and purpose. Ability refers to how good banks are at what they do; integrity refers to the bank's honesty; dependability refers to how well banks keep their promises; and purpose refers to how hard banks try to leave a positive impact on society. The survey found that while ability continued to be the major contributor to trust, there has been a shift towards purpose. Ability saw a dip of three points to 30 per cent, while purpose saw a significant increase by six points to 19 per cent. Meanwhile, integrity saw a dip of two points to 26 per cent and dependability maintained status quo at 24 per cent. Even though banks have made substantial progress in giving back to the community, improving customer accessibility and employee diversity, purpose remained the lowest performing pillar. The growing importance of purpose to trust, along with the flattening performances of ability indicators, contributed to the dip. However, despite the drop, the Singapore banking industry remains one of the most trusted institutions locally, coming in closely behind the Government, which has an ENTS of 72. 'We are heartened by the robust trust that the public places in banks in Singapore, and with it, the rising expectations for us to do more for the common good,' said Ms Helen Wong, ABS chairman, and group CEO of OCBC Bank. Banks could strengthen public trust by prioritising improvements to ethical conduct, acknowledging mistakes and demonstrating proactiveness in preventing re-occurrences, and enhancing customer centricity, said the report. The increasing importance of purpose to trust also calls for further efforts by the industry to expand community involvement and customer accessibility, it added. 'We hear the call to do even more – to demonstrate our purpose for the greater good and bring positive impact to society – and look forward to rise to the occasion, building on the industry community initiatives we started last year,' said Mr Shee Tse Koon, chairman of ABS' Culture and Conduct Steering Group and DBS' group head of consumer banking and wealth management. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
The Standard
16-05-2025
- Business
- The Standard
OCBC eyes growth in Asia and new economies amid trade uncertainties
OCBC introduced their Asia-focused strategy on May 16, 2025, in Hong Kong, presented by (from left to right) Greater China head and OCBC Hong Kong chief executive Wang Ke, Helen Wong and Rickie Chan. Photo by SING TAO
