OCBC buys NAB’s wealth units in Hong Kong and Singapore
The sale affecting 4,000 Hong Kong clients, comes as NAB looks to focus on corporate and institutional customers
Singapore’s OCBC has agreed to acquire National Australia Bank’s private wealth assets in Hong Kong and Singapore, the latest move of Singaporean banks’ ongoing efforts to grow their wealth management businesses, according to an announcement by the banks on Thursday.
Loans booked in Hong Kong accounted for more than half of the US$1.7 billion mortgage book that OCBC has acquired from NAB. But in all, the Singapore bank has gained around 4,000 clients in Hong Kong in both the mortgage business and the deposit portfolio. The latter is worth over US$3 billion across the two markets.
The deposits and mortgages booked in Hong Kong will be transferred to OCBC’s Hong Kong subsidiary, OCBC Wing Hang.
“The addition of the mortgage portfolio not only augments our existing loans book for local property financing, but also serves as a good base for financing customers who have interest in acquiring properties overseas,” said Mr Na Wu Beng, Chief Executive Officer, OCBC Wing Hang Bank.
More than half the properties financed by the mortgages are in Australia.
The purchase price of the business has not been fixed and will depend on the net asset value of the business at the time the transaction is completed.