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Who is Tan Teck Long, the former DBS veteran who is OCBC&rsquo s incoming CEO?

The 55-year-old, who is now OCBC&rsquo s head of global wholesale banking, is said to have a deep knowledge of the China market

[SINGAPORE] Tan Teck Long is no stranger in the banking world, albeit not yet a household name. But he was thrust into the limelight on Friday (Jul 11), following the announcement that he would take over from Helen Wong as CEO of OCBC : O39 +0.9%.

The 55-year-old, who is currently the lender&rsquo s head of global wholesale banking, will assume the role on Jan 1, 2026. He brings with him a deep knowledge of the China market, an important prong of the bank&rsquo s China-Asean strategy.

To facilitate a smooth transition, Tan &ndash who joined OCBC in 2022 &ndash will take on the additional role of deputy CEO for the next six months.

In a statement on Friday, OCBC board chairman Andrew Lee said: &ldquo After a rigorous global search, the board unanimously agreed that Teck Long was the best candidate to take the helm.&rdquo

Almost three decades with DBS

Before joining OCBC, Tan had been with DBS for close to 30 years. At South-east Asia&rsquo s largest bank, he last held the role of chief risk officer.

Prior to that, he was head of DBS&rsquo corporate bank and chief operating officer of the institutional bank from January 2016 to June 2018. He was also head of DBS&rsquo institutional banking group in China from September 2011 to January 2016.

His other senior roles at DBS included being the group head of special assets management and group head of corporate real estate strategy and administration.

OCBC previously said that it hired Tan as part of a regular review of its senior-management bench strength to ensure that its top executives remain relevant to the bank&rsquo s strategic objectives.

Tan had been identified through a search conducted by an independent external executive search firm. He was also assessed by OCBC&rsquo s board of directors and was found to have the &ldquo requisite knowledge and experience for the position&rdquo .

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Roles at OCBC

As head of global wholesale banking at South-east Asia&rsquo s second-largest bank, Tan is responsible for all banking relationships with OCBC&rsquo s wholesale customers &ndash small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), 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 about 38 per cent of the lender&rsquo s overall profit before tax in 2024. Profit before income tax for the segment was down 10 per cent at S$3.5 billion. This came on the back of a decline in net interest income, as well as higher expenses and allowances, which together more than offset an increase in fee income.

Tan has also been chairing the OCBC Strategic Resilience Group since May. This group aims to calibrate the bank&rsquo s position amid continued global shifts, strengthen its resilience, and improve its long-term business sustainability by seeking new growth engines.

In China, Tan serves as a director on the boards of OCBC-affiliated Bank of Ningbo and Maxwealth Fund Management Company.

Greater China-Asean flows

OCBC in 2023 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 SME customers in Hong Kong over three years.

At the time, OCBC was also looking to grow its transactional banking capabilities in Greater China to achieve more than 500 regional mandates for cash management over the following five years, and double its investment banking revenue in three years.

By 2025, the division booked strong revenue growth of 35 per cent, and customer growth of more than 50 per cent from &ldquo surging&rdquo Greater China-Asean flows.

According to OCBC&rsquo s annual report, in 2024, the bank saw a nearly 30 per cent year-on-year rise in new-to-bank customers that were Chinese companies entering the Asean market.

Helen Wong to retire as OCBC CEO Tan Teck Long named successor

She had informed the board last year of her intention to step down for family reasons

[SINGAPORE] In a surprise move, OCBC announced that group chief executive officer Helen Wong will retire on Dec 31, 2025, with an insider set to assume the top post.

Tan Teck Long, the bank&rsquo s current head of global wholesale banking, will succeed her on Jan 1, 2026.

Tan, 55, will immediately assume the additional role of deputy CEO, OCBC : O39 +0.9% said in a bourse filing on Friday (Jul 11) after market close.

Wong, 64, joined OCBC in February 2020 as deputy president and head of global wholesale banking, and was appointed group CEO in April 2021.

She had informed the board last year of her intention to retire for family reasons, and has been spending more time in Hong Kong since the start of 2025, the bank said.

After stepping down, she will remain as chairman of OCBC China and as a director of OCBC Hong Kong.

&ldquo The board reluctantly accepted Helen&rsquo s request to retire to spend more time with her family,&rdquo said OCBC chairman Andrew Lee.

&ldquo We thank her for agreeing to stay on to continue providing stewardship as chair of our China board and a director of the Hong Kong board, given her vast experience and deep knowledge of Greater China.&rdquo

The Hong Kong-born banker was the first woman to lead one of Singapore&rsquo s three banking giants &ndash DBS, OCBC and UOB &ndash and received the Outstanding Chief Executive of the Year award at the 40th Singapore Business Awards in May.

During her tenure, Wong delivered record profits for three consecutive years, the bank said.

&ldquo Strong growth&rdquo was also recorded across OCBC&rsquo s core pillars of banking, wealth management and insurance, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15 per cent for banking net profit, 13 per cent for wealth management income, and 34 per cent for insurance profit contribution from Great Eastern Holdings (GEH), it added.

GEH is set to resume trading after a proposed delisting resolution failed to pass at its extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on Tuesday.

Wong, in a LinkedIn post, said after the meeting that the bank &ldquo went into the EGM already satisfied&rdquo , as it had already increased its investment in the insurer to 93.72 per cent even though its privatisation offer in 2024 failed.

However, it is likely that the failure of OCBC to take full control of its insurance subsidiary cast a pall over her tenure.

&ldquo I am very pleased to hand the baton over to Teck Long,&rdquo said Wong. &ldquo His bold leadership style, immense sense of responsibility and vision coupled with grit will steer OCBC confidently into the future.&rdquo

Tan joined OCBC as head of global wholesale banking in March 2022. He was previously chief risk officer at DBS from July 2018 to December 2021, and has more than 30 years of banking experience.

Under his three-year leadership, OCBC&rsquo s global wholesale banking division posted a CAGR of about 20 per cent in total income and 25 per cent in net profit.

Said Tan: &ldquo Helen has laid down a firm foundation, and I will be privileged to build on that.

&ldquo We will now double down on pursuing strong sustainable growth, innovation and people development as we fulfil our purpose of enabling people and communities to realise their aspirations.&rdquo

Analysts somewhat surprised

The announcement comes as somewhat of a surprise, said Thilan Wickramasinghe, Singapore head of research and regional financials at Maybank Securities.

This is given Wong&rsquo s short five-year tenure, with the bank still executing its &ldquo One Group&rdquo strategy of driving synergies across business pillars, he pointed out.

Morningstar senior equity analyst Michael Makdad also said that he &ldquo (frankly) did not anticipate this announcement at this timing&rdquo .

It is possible that Wong waited until the Great Eastern matter was settled, although that is &ldquo purely (his) speculation&rdquo , Makdad said.

He expects that a fresh pair of eyes on the overall corporate strategy could bring changes in direction, such as how much to prioritise merger-and-acquisition activities over organic growth, and how to approach shareholder distributions compared with investments.

Makdad noted that Wong&rsquo s background in Hong Kong makes her well-positioned to look after growth in that market.

&ldquo But it&rsquo s possible that OCBC&rsquo s board felt that the most pressing challenges now are elsewhere,&rdquo he noted, citing other challenges such as growth in Asean, and broader wealth management.

Meanwhile, Wickramasinghe expects that Tan&rsquo s immediate focus will be to drive OCBC&rsquo s &ldquo One Group&rdquo strategy forward and optimise its capital structure.

Had quite a run up for several days already.

Delvyss ( Date: 03-Jul-2025 14:32) Posted:

A quick consolidation from 1st half day till now. Should be up and running again anytime.

OCBC targets S$5 billion in loans to serial entrepreneurs by 2028

The initiative, launched in Singapore in 2019, will be introduced in Hong Kong by end-2025 and in Indonesia thereafter

[SINGAPORE] OCBC is aiming to extend an additional S$3.5 billion in loans to serial entrepreneurs in its core markets by 2028.

This builds on the S$1.5 billion in financing already extended to more than 1,800 serial entrepreneurs with over 8,000 businesses across Singapore and Malaysia since 2019, as at end-2024.

The new target brings the total loan quantum under the initiative to S$5 billion by 2028, OCBC said on Monday (Jul 7).

The announcement comes after OCBC expanded its serial entrepreneur lending programme to Malaysia in July, following a nine-month pilot.

The initiative, launched in Singapore in 2019, will be introduced in Hong Kong by end-2025 and in Indonesia thereafter.

The bank defines serial entrepreneurs as individuals who hold a majority shareholding in more than one business.

&ldquo The reality is (that) serial entrepreneurs already make up quite a dominant force in Singapore,&rdquo said Linus Goh, head of global commercial banking at OCBC, at a media briefing on Monday.

The bank&rsquo s internal data shows that one in three companies in Singapore are founded by serial entrepreneurs, Goh noted. In Malaysia, close to half of the small businesses OCBC serves are owned by serial entrepreneurs.

The bank&rsquo s portfolio also showed that companies led by serial entrepreneurs had a 30 per cent lower non-performing rate compared to those run by non-serial entrepreneurs.

Through the dedicated programme, OCBC consolidates an entrepreneur&rsquo s various business ventures and evaluates them as a group when extending financing.

The bank also assigns a relationship manager who assesses the entrepreneur holistically, with access to specialists in areas such as cash management, corporate advisory and wealth management.

This approach allows a new venture to receive funding based on the business owner&rsquo s past track record, even if the entity itself lacks a history of profitability, said Anna Chang, managing director of middle market and services, global commercial banking, at OCBC.

This is in contrast to the traditional banking model, where each company would be treated in silos on a standalone basis, said Chang.

&ldquo For the bank, we are also capturing a market gap that was underserved by many banks,&rdquo she added.

A quick consolidation from 1st half day till now. Should be up and running again anytime.

" Now' s not the time for OCBC to sell its Chulia St properties"

https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/opinion-features/nows-not-time-ocbc-sell-its-chulia-st-properties

" I am 16, going on 17"

Back on racing track

https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2025/06/23/ocbc-commits-over-rm11bil-for-johor-growth

Bro. It?s witching day.

Expect it to trend higher into earning result day.

Wars are good for stock market.

Did anyone see the huge sell volume at closing? Looks like some big fish shorting the stock.

Didn' t know Ocbc is actually a Peranakan bank

" Macquarie Group' s head of Asean equity research Jayden Vantarakis noted that the OCBC group could benefit from higher consolidated profits and a more streamlined capital structure if a full takeover and delisting of Great Eastern takes place."

https://www.straitstimes.com/business/great-eastern-shareholders-to-vote-for-delisting-or-resumption-of-trading-ocbc-makes-exit-offer-at

At least it is working on it. Soon this will be a thing of the past. It' s " move on" time. :)

Joelton ( Date: 09-Jun-2025 07:24) Posted:

New OCBC offer for Great Eastern more attractive but fate lies in hands of significant minority shareholders: analysts

If delisting fails, OCBC will continue operating Great Eastern as it has been, analysts say

[SINGAPORE] OCBC&rsquo s latest exit offer for Great Eastern is more attractive than its initial privatisation bid, but it still remains to be seen if the insurer will be delisted, given that the decision likely lies in the hands of a few significant shareholders, analysts said.

OCBC on Friday (Jun 6), at the request of the insurer, made a S$900 million conditional exit offer at S$30.15 per share for the 6.28 per cent stake in Great Eastern it does not own.

EY, the independent financial adviser (IFA) to the deal, said this offer is &ldquo fair and reasonable&rdquo .

The offer comes months after OCBC failed to delist the insurer following a voluntary unconditional general offer for all of the insurer&rsquo s shares at S$25.60 each &ndash a deal that was deemed &ldquo not fair but reasonable&rdquo by the IFA.

Lim Rui Wen, analyst at DBS Group Research, said the new offer was at a &ldquo considerable premium&rdquo to the previous offer at S$25.60 per share, which may move some of the minority shareholders.

&ldquo However, as there are significant minority shareholders holding close to half of the remaining 6.28 per cent stake, it ultimately depends if the significant shareholders are willing to accept the revised price,&rdquo Lim said.

To pass, the offer will need approval from at least 75 per cent of the remaining Great Eastern shares.

Glenn Thum, research manager at Phillip Securities Research, said the offer price is &ldquo definitely better&rdquo than previously, but noted that it is still at a slight discount to Great Eastern&rsquo s embedded value (EV).

Among others, the offer implies a price-to-EV ratio of 0.8 times the insurer&rsquo s 2024 results.

The discount might result in some pushback from the most resistant minority shareholders, Thum said.

&ldquo The minority shareholders that have held out were very vocal in getting a better deal, as they felt that the previous deal was too low,&rdquo he said.

Nevertheless, he expects the majority of the remaining minority shareholders would take the deal given that the IFA has deemed it &ldquo fair and reasonable&rdquo .

Otherwise, minority shareholders will need to be mindful that trading liquidity for the stock will likely be &ldquo very thin&rdquo , even if the stock resumes trading should the offer fall through, said a research analyst at RHB.

Meanwhile, Robson Lee, partner at Kennedys Legal Solutions, said shareholders should await the offer circular for the details of the proposed new constitution.

If the delisting resolution is not passed, the exit offer will lapse, and Great Eastern will propose resolutions to satisfy the free-float requirement.

This includes a resolution to adopt a new constitution, as well as a one-for-one bonus issue comprising new ordinary shares &ndash which will be listed and carry voting rights &ndash and newly-created Class C non-voting shares &ndash which will not be listed and have no voting rights.

OCBC and Great Eastern said in a joint offer announcement that the new constitution consists largely of the existing provisions of the insurer&rsquo s current constitution, and is updated to permit the bonus issue. Further details will be laid out in the circular.

&ldquo The devil lies in the details&hellip because it&rsquo s not just changing various provisions in the current constitution,&rdquo Lee said.

He added that it might have been fairer if the IFA also commented on the proposed bonus issue, given that the two options are presented in a package to minority shareholders.

&ldquo If you don&rsquo t support the delisting, you would have to reconcile with the fact that you have a new constitution and bonus shares&hellip since OCBC can also vote on that,&rdquo he said.

Furthermore, Lee noted that the Class C non-voting shares can be converted to ordinary shares after five years, and OCBC has stated that its long-term strategy is to take Great Eastern private.

&ldquo Taken together, it seems that even if the trading suspension is lifted, it would appear to be just a temporary stopgap measure for OCBC,&rdquo he said.

Minority shareholder rights

Some observers noted that the deal exposed gaps in minority shareholder rights.

David Gerald, founder, president and chief executive of the Securities Investors Association (Singapore), or Sias, said he was &ldquo disappointed&rdquo that shareholders who were unable to withstand the trading suspension and accepted the previous offer have ultimately lost out on realising a fair value for their shares. Shareholders who held on were also left without a clear resolution framework or timeline given the repeated extensions, while the trading suspension &ldquo severely limited&rdquo their investment decisions, he said.

For former remisier Ong Chin Woo, who has publicly fought to unlock value for minority shareholders of Great Eastern since March 2024, the latest offer &ldquo raises concerns about fairness and investor confidence in Singapore&rsquo s capital markets&rdquo .

Ong said the higher offer price within a short time frame &ldquo suggests that a more equitable proposal could have been made from the outset&rdquo .

&ldquo Why weren&rsquo t Great Eastern&rsquo s minority investors offered better terms from the outset? This is something only OCBC&rsquo s board can answer,&rdquo he said.

Business as usual?

Even if the delisting resolution fails, this is unlikely to change the way the lender manages Great Eastern, analysts said.

Phillip&rsquo s Thum said OCBC might not be able to fully integrate Great Eastern, and some plans for OCBC&rsquo s &ldquo One Group&rdquo strategy might have to change moving forward.

But given that OCBC is still the insurer&rsquo s largest shareholder and would continue to have control over the latter&rsquo s direction, he does not see much impact to the lender if Great Eastern&rsquo s free float were to be restored, he said.

For Michael Makdad, senior equity analyst at Morningstar, it would be &ldquo disappointing&rdquo if the delisting bid fails, but the bank is likely to continue operating the insurer as it has been doing.

He said: &ldquo It hasn&rsquo t been easy for OCBC to obtain control of Great Eastern over the years. I do think this is the final offer.&rdquo