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Good morning everyone.

Congrats to OCBC too.

<vested-oldpot><not a call to buy or sell>

DJ Myanmar Awards Foreign Bank Licenses -- Update

01 Oct 2014 15:48

DJ Myanmar Awards Foreign Bank Licenses -- Update
By Shibani Mahtani, Enda Curran and Atsuko Fukase

Australia & New Zealand Banking Ltd., three Japanese banks and five others on Wednesday won coveted licenses to operate in Myanmar after decades in which foreign lenders were frozen out of the country.

ANZ, along with Japan's biggest lenders--Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd., Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. and Mizuho Bank Ltd.--were among 25 applicants vying for a license to operate in Myanmar.

Other license winners included Thailand's Bangkok Bank Public Co., Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., Malayan Bank Bhd., and two Singapore banks-- United Overseas Bank Ltd. and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp.

The long-awaited announcement by Myanmar's central bank allows overseas lenders to start doing business in the once-isolated country, part of a sweeping overhaul under Myanmar's new nominally civilian government. Banks now have 12 months to prepare for the opening of their branches in the country.

For ANZ, winning the license is part of the bank's strategy to grow its Asian business and the bank plans to service big multinational companies who operate in the country.

"If you think about our strengths in natural resources, energy and infrastructure, each of these sectors in Myanmar have significant opportunities," said Andrew Géczy, ANZ's chief executive for international and institutional banking.

Set Aung, deputy governor of Myanmar's central bank said earlier that license recipients would be limited to banking for foreign corporations and foreign-exchange services.

Foreign banks will be limited to one branch each, won't be permitted to operate a retail-banking business and will be allowed to lend only in foreign currency, and not in the kyat, Myanmar's currency, unless they partner with a local bank.

Even with the initial restrictions, the move has been praised by analysts as a step toward liberalizing Myanmar's rigid financial sector. The bank's decision is expected to greatly improve access to capital in Myanmar, one of the key hurdles for foreign companies investing there.

"Taking into consideration where the banking industry of the country stands right now, even the current partial opening of the sector to international banks is a major development," said Sardor Koshnazarov, managing director at Silk Road Finance, a frontier-market-focused investment firm.

Many of Myanmar's local banks have opposed the granting licenses, worrying that allowing foreign banks to operate in the country would erode their market share.

"Foreign banks are giants, but we are still very small," said Sein Maung, chairman of Myanmar First Private Bank and vice chairman of the Myanmar Banking Association. "We are not ready to compete with them, not in terms of technology or experience."

Pe Myint, managing director of Myanmar's Co-operative Bank Ltd., said his firm is preparing to upgrade services and has hired consultants to respond to the added competition.

"But we will still face shortage of human resources and skills, because some of our talented staff will move to foreign banks when they start operations," he said.

Hong Kong is still a mess, think OCBC bought wing hang too early~

This is "if only i know what is going to happen next"......Do i have to be here?

The valuations ocbc paid was way too high at over 1.7 times book, management could had been more conservative. They could had ask for 1.5 times or lower else have the discipline to walk away from the deal

Talk is cheap... U should have told DBS that they paid out of their world for Dao Heng and give Quek a pat on his shoulders for cashing out...

(02-10-2014, 12:50 PM)LLS Wrote: [ -> ]The valuations ocbc paid was way too high at over 1.7 times book, management could had been more conservative. They could had ask for 1.5 times or lower else have the discipline to walk away from the deal

If you look around , it is not easy to buy over businesses that lay golden eggs at budget price.
I am not just specifically referring to Wing Hang, but all the bank takeover deals all over the world, mostly are paying multiple times of their book value.

OCBC choose to buy over Wing Hang at the junction where China economy is slowing down is a wiser choice, unlike DBS who rush to buy Dao Heng while things are still hot and end up paying thru their nose with 3.1 times book value.
( If I remember correctly. )
Even so, DBS HK (Dao Heng) has already become a significant part of the overall DBS group earnings.
Nowadays people hardly whine about the deals anymore. ( Until recently people dig it out to compare with OCBC Wing Hang deal. )

OCBC have been too conservative for the past 10 years under David Conner management without significant oversea expansion.
Wing Hang is a stepping stone for OCBC to venture into China.
I believe 10 years down the road you will appreciate that Mr Samuel Tsien has make the move.

Remember, the population in Singapore is 5.5million , but the population in China is 1.3 billions !

(02-10-2014, 12:50 PM)LLS Wrote: [ -> ]The valuations ocbc paid was way too high at over 1.7 times book, management could had been more conservative. They could had ask for 1.5 times or lower else have the discipline to walk away from the deal

http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/the-raff...man-banker

The uncommon everyman banker
Samuel Tsien, group CEO of OCBC Bank, is banking on the values and qualities of Everyman Sam to guide OCBC through the wake of the global financial crisis.

By
Kenneth Limkenlim@sph.com.sg@KennethLimBT
BT_20141011_KLTSIEN11_1314374.jpg "I always admire the shipowners, because they must have a very broad view of things. Anything that happens in any part of the world will have some impact on the shipping freight rates. Whether it is a war somewhere, a drought somewhere, a fight somewhere or, at that time, blockage of canal, will have major implications for shipping rates. So as a shipowner they truly have to be very global." PHOTO: ARTHUR LEE
11 Oct5:50 AM
ON paper he is Samuel Tsien, group chief executive of OCBC Bank. But along the corridors of his company's building in the heart of Raffles Place, he is simply Sam. We know this because it would appear that every employee in the bank, from rank-and-file Joe to executive Jane, is predisposed to

Private banking a growing industry but it is ‘not a walk in the park’: Bank of Singapore CEO

712 words
20 Oct 2014
Channel NewsAsia
CNEWAS
English
© 2014 MediaCorp News Pte Ltd. All Rights Reserved

SINGAPORE: Bank of Singapore’s CEO, Mr Renato de Guzman, was named Outstanding Private Banker - Asia Pacific last Friday (Oct 17). The award was given by Private Banker International.

Mr de Guzman has more than 35 years of banking experience. He was previously chief executive of ING Asia Private Bank, before it was acquired by OCBC Bank in 2010.

Under his charge, Bank of Singapore grew its Assets under Management (AUM) from US$22 billion (S$28 billion) in January 2010 to US$51 billion as at the end of June 2014.

Channel NewsAsia's Nicole Tan spoke to him and started by asking how the private banking industry has changed in recent years.

Mr de Guzman: There are certain events that are significant in the private banking industry. The 2008 crisis has triggered a lot of regulatory repercussions. (Regulations) had to be stepped up in terms of investor protection and compliance.

The other one is data confidentiality. If you look at Bank of Singapore, a lot of growth rate in staff was in the last two years was actually in the area of compliance and Ops and IT. So in terms of increase in headcount, in the back office or support areas, it was actually more than the headcount in the front office.

Q: On Bank of Singapore, can you briefly describe the growth strategy over the next two to three years?

Mr de Guzman: I am very excited about the future growth of Bank of Singapore because our strategy is really to focus on countries where OCBC has a good presence or a very strong presence. We are able to take advantage of such presence in terms of growing the number of clients and our AUM.

The recent acquisition of Wing Hang Bank is, of course, a big opportunity for Bank of Singapore to increase its presence in North Asia. Wing Hang Bank has an established presence in Hong Kong, Macau and also parts of China.

Q: Can you describe a high point in your private banking career?

Mr de Guzman: I think in terms of a high point, it was when Bank of Singapore crossed US$50 billion. As you know, I started ING Asia Private Bank with US$2 billion, which was acquired by OCBC in 2010. Then it grew and now we have crossed US$50 billion. So that, to me, is a dream come true. Also, what is very important is it establishes Bank of Singapore as Asia's global private bank.

Q: Could you talk about some of the opportunities available to potential entrants to the private banking industry, and what would your advice to them be?

Mr de Guzman: Because of the industry growth, there has been a lot of attractive opportunities, not only in the front line as relationship managers or front line bankers, but also in other areas like compliance, Ops and IT, business managers, project managers.

As we grow, the number in terms of talent requirements is quite significant or enormous. So there are many areas where you can go into private banking, and it is a very good industry to go into as it is a growing industry. Particularly in Singapore, it is a very important part of the financial landscape of Singapore. So if you were in Singapore and in private banking, I think you are in the right place at the right time.

In terms of what advice I should give them, it is not a walk in the park. It is also a very demanding profession. So I think what is important is you need the basic intelligence, as well as high EQ. I always say you need a lot of patience, especially if you are in the front line and working with very demanding clients.

I always say that private banking as an industry - since it is really serving the successful or rich individual, they get rich because they are smart, they are intelligent, and they also have very high expectations. So in the same way, we, as private bankers, we have to be intelligent, we have to be smart and deliver on those high expectations. - CNA/ms


MCN International Pte Ltd.

Document CNEWAS0020141020eaak000xd

Good morning everyone



29-10-2014 10:05:25
INDONESIA PRESS-Bank OCBC NISP third-quarter net profit up 12 pct - Bisnis Indonesia



Lender PT Bank OCBC NISP booked a net profit of 942 billion rupiah ($77.47 million) in the third quarter, up 12 percent from a year earlier, driven by interest income that rose 20 percent to 2.7 trillion rupiah, said CEO Parwati Surjaudaja.

OCBC NISP, a unit of Singapore-listed Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp Ltd , recorded loan growth of 9 percent to 66.6 trillion rupiah. (Bisnis Indonesia) Note: Reuters has not verified this story and does not vouch for its accuracy.

(1 US dollar = 12,160 rupiah) (Compiled by Jakarta Newsroom; Editing by Anupama Dwivedi) ((fergus.jensen@thomsonreuters.com; +62 21 2992 7604; Reuters Messaging: fergus.jensen.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) Keywords: INDONESIA PRESS/OCBC



<vested-oldpot><not a call to buy or sell>

Good morning everyone



OCBC Group Reports Third Quarter 2014

Net Profit after Tax up 62% to S$1.23 billion





Singapore, 30 October 2014 – Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited (“OCBC Bank”)

reported a net profit after tax of S$1.23 billion for the third quarter of 2014 (“3Q14”), an increase of

62% from S$759 million a year ago (“3Q13”).

The 3Q14 earnings included a one-off gain of S$391 million that arose from the Group’s increased

stake in Bank of Ningbo Co., Ltd (“BON”), which became a 20%-owned associated company on 30

September 2014. As a result, the Group’s initial available-for-sale 15.3% investment was deemed

disposed of in accordance with accounting standards, and its related fair value reserve was

recognised in the income statement as a one-off gain. Excluding the one-off gain, the Group’s core

net profit rose 11%, underpinned by strong earnings from its banking operations, which grew 30%

year-on-year from increased net interest income, record fee income and higher trading income.

The Group’s third quarter core net profit included the results of the 97.5%-owned OCBC Wing Hang

Bank (formerly Wing Hang Bank), following the completion of the acquisition on 29 July 2014. OCBC

Wing Hang’s net profit contribution to the Group’s consolidated results for this period was S$38

million, after merger-related adjustments primarily in depreciation and provisions. OCBC Wing Hang

became a wholly-owned subsidiary after quarter-end on 15 October 2014 and was delisted from the

Hong Kong Stock Exchange on 16 October 2014.

Net interest income for the quarter increased 27% to S$1.25 billion from S$978 million a year ago,

driven by strong asset growth and higher net interest margin. Net interest margin rose 5 basis points

to 1.68% from 1.63% in 3Q13, contributed by improved loan spreads and higher returns from money

market activities. Customer loans grew S$42.9 billion or 27% from a year ago to S$205 billion, with

OCBC Wing Hang contributing S$24.9 billion to the increase. Excluding the consolidation effect of

OCBC Wing Hang, loan growth of 11% was broad-based, led by general commerce loans, housing

loans, and loans to professionals and individuals.



http://infopub.sgx.com/FileOpen/OCBC-3Q1...eID=321005



<vested-oldpot><not a call to buy or sell>