KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 31): Had Wee Ee Cheong, the deputy chairman and chief executive officer of United Overseas Bank Ltd (UOB), not followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, he likely would have been a doctor today.
But as fate would have it, the third-generation leader of the Singapore-based lender, which turns 90 next year, joined the family business in 1979 at the behest of his father, the late Wee Cho Yaw.
UOB, the third-largest banking group in Asean by assets today, was founded in 1935 by his grandfather, Sarawak-born Wee Kheng Chiang.
In a recent 1½-hour exclusive interview with The Edge Malaysia, Wee kept coming back to the topics of people, values and culture. He sees these as important for UOB to stand the test of time.
“It’s important to me that we build the right culture. Just like the roots of a tree, the culture is important. If you don’t have the right roots, the tree will not survive,” says Wee.
The group may be turning 90 but is progressive. This is evident from the millions of Singapore dollars it has already poured into information technology investment, especially in the last decade, with no plans to stop there.
UOB intends to pump another S$2.1 billion to S$2.5 billion (RM7 billion to RM8.3 billion) into technology between now and 2026, as it believes this will give it the competitive edge to stand out as the regional bank of choice for customers.
It aims to achieve a return on equity of 14% by 2026, which will be powered through its targets to increase the income contribution from its Asean-4 market (Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam) to 30% of total income, a higher mix of non-interest income stemming from growth in wealth, trade and customer treasury, as well as from improved cost efficiency and productivity through investment in people and technology.
In the interview, Wee speaks at length on a wide range of topics that offer insights into his philosophy of running a regional bank.
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