OCBC Bank
OCBC Bank does not lack ambition: as part of its expansion strategy, last year it increased its stake in leading Singaporean and Malaysian insurance group GEH from 49% to 83%, and launched an offer earlier this year for the remaining shares.
The deal turned OCBC into a bigger and stronger financial services group, and allowed the bancassurance and wealth management businesses to flourish.
Thanks to GEH’s substantial agency force in Malaysia, OCBC can cross-refer credit cards and housing loans to policyholders, which has significantly boosted the bank’s Malaysian credit card base.
The judges were also impressed with OCBC’s expansion programme for the near future, with proposed acquisitions in China and Vietnam.
“Being named Bank of the Year 2006 in Singapore by The Banker is a welcome endorsement of our achievements at OCBC,” says chief executive David Conner. “In 2003, we embarked on our New Horizons strategy, which formed the groundwork for the results we have delivered up to now.
“This year, we unveiled New Horizons II, outlining our strategic direction for the next five years. As the name suggests, it stresses continuity in our strategic intent: to realise higher growth opportunities from the overseas markets in which we have increased our investments recently, to deliver steady growth in the more mature Singapore market and to improve our overall performance using a balanced business scorecard.”
