Singapore’s Top Banks Hungry for Regional Expansion

(Nikkei Asia) — The three largest banks in Singapore, DBS Group Holdings, United Overseas Bank (UOB) and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. (OCBC), are expanding in neighboring countries through acquisitions and new hiring, as they push to become regional banks in Southeast Asia.

“In the next five years, we target to further penetrate these ASEAN countries and thrive in the competition with the large domestic banks there,” said UOB’s CEO Wee Ee Cheong when a shareholder asked about the company’s direction during the bank’s annual general meeting in April.