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Enoch Yiu

Singapore’s OCBC, the second-largest banking group in Southeast Asia, will continue to hire more staff and invest in its digital infrastructure capabilities to attract ultra-high-net-worth clients, shrugging off the turmoil caused by the US tariff war.
Group CEO Helen Wong said the lender would stay the course, despite the ongoing uncertainty caused by the tariff war, noting that OCBC was continuing to grow its business.
“We have no plans to change our HK$1.5 billion (US$192 million) investment in Hong Kong and Macau,” Wong said in a media briefing on Friday. “We will complete 50 per cent of the spending by the end of this year and the rest in 2026.”
OCBC would retain its talent to serve customers, she added.

Wong and scores of senior OCBC executives met local and regional media at the group’s 76,000 sq ft office at Airside in Kai Tak, the site of the city’s former airport.
Global markets were roiled in early April when US President Donald Trump announced his so-called reciprocal tariffs, feeling the shock waves from the tit-for-tat tariff war between China and the US. A temporary 90-day truce between the world’s two largest economies has returned some calm to the markets.
OCBC’s new office, which opened in December with a capacity to house 800 staffers, is a key component of the bank’s investment plan – unveiled in May last year – to upgrade its digital platforms, offices and data centres in Hong Kong and Macau, Wong said.
The bank’s revenue in Hong Kong and Macau rose 14 per cent year on year to HK$1.9 billion in the first three months of this year on the back of a 30 per cent jump in the number of premium banking customers. Income from its insurance and investment businesses in each of these markets jumped 69 per cent.
Wong said the bank planned to further expand its wealth management business by hiring more bankers and introducing new products.
The group, which uses Hong Kong and Singapore as hubs for its wealth management business, increased its headcount of senior bankers by 11 per cent in the first quarter. The expanded team helped grow assets under management by 21 per cent in the first quarter.
The escalating trade war that triggered global turmoil last month did not stop its customers from investing, but instead they reshuffled their portfolios to more conservative options like bonds instead of stocks, according to Rickie Chan, head of private banking for Greater China at Bank of Singapore, a unit of OCBC.
“It is a misconception that when the market is very volatile, or when sentiment is really bad, it is bad for our wealth management business,” said Chan.
“It is in times of uncertainty and volatility when our clients need our advice the most,” he said.
While OCBC is on a hiring spree and expanding its office space, rivals like DBS and Standard Chartered Bank have been reducing their office needs in recent years. Meanwhile, Hang Seng Bank this week surprised the market by laying off some staff in its back offices.
But all these banks have their eyes set on the wealth management business in the city.
Hong Kong, which had HK$31 trillion of assets under management in 2023, was likely to overtake Switzerland by 2027 as the world’s top hub for cross-border wealth management, according to estimates from Boston Consulting Group.
Wong also believes that the trade war would create new business opportunities, as companies would need to find new trading partners.
“OCBC has a network and talent spread across Asia to help customers find new supply chains and new markets,” Wong said. “We are at the right place, at the right time for talent and clients.”


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OCBC has no intention to change its planned US$192 million investment in Hong Kong and Macau, CEO Helen Wong says


OCBC has no intention to change its planned US$192 million investment in Hong Kong and Macau, CEO Helen Wong says.


Singapore’s OCBC plans to stay the course in Hong Kong, hire talent despite trade war

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}OCBC has no intention to change its planned US$192 million investment in Hong Kong and Macau, CEO Helen Wong says

OCBC has no intention to change its planned US$192 million investment in Hong Kong and Macau, CEO Helen Wong says