Helen Wong is OCBC new group CEO

KUALA LUMPUR: Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp Ltd (OCBC) has appointed Helen Wong as group chief executive officer (CEO) effective from April 15.

She will succeed Samuel Tsien, who will retire on April 14.

OCBC chairman Ooi Sang Kuang said the appointment marks the board’s focus on succession planning and talent management.

Wong’s appointment as the result of a rigorous global search for the best qualified candidate who embodies both the capability to redefine group strategy in light of challenges and opportunities and OCBC’s core values, it said.

“We had looked at candidates internally in OCBC, and within and outside Singapore before we agreed on Helen as the best qualified person,” Ooi said in a statement today.

He said Wong’s experiences and expertise extend beyond corporate banking, Greater China and North Asia.

She also ran a large banking operation of a global bank as the chief executive of Greater China, including Hong Kong, prior to joining OCBC.

Wong, 59, joined OCBC in February 2020 as deputy president and head of global wholesale banking.

She began her career in banking with OCBC Bank in 1984, and was the nank’s first China desk manager.

“I am deeply honoured to be succeeding Sam, who is highly regarded and respected, not just in Singapore’s banking industry, but also regionally,” Wong said.

Tsien, 66, joined OCBC in July 2007 as the global head of global corporate bank and was appointed the group CEO on April 15, 2012.

OCBC’s profitability has grown over the years, achieving a record net profit of S$4.87 billion in 2019, more than doubling 2011’s net profit of S$2.31 billion.

Total assets grew to S$492 billion in 2019 from S$278 billion in 2011.

On his retirement after 14 years at OCBC, Tsien said: “It was indeed humbling to be given the opportunity to serve as group CEO for the past nine years. I have found it a truly fulfilling and rewarding experience to be able to build on the firm foundations laid by my predecessors, and to take one of Asia’s most iconic organisations to new heights.”

Source: NST