United Overseas Bank In 1935, a group of seven Chinese businessmen led by Kuching- born Wee Kheng Chiang founded the United Chinese Bank— with a paid- up capital of $1 million— to cater for the banking needs of the Chinese Hokkien community. The bank was renamed the United Overseas Bank (UOB) in 1965, as another bank in Hong Kong also bore the original name.
The bank started business in rented premises in the Bonham Building, on the corner of Bonham and Chulia Streets, before buying the building from the landlord. It was replaced in 1974 by an octagonal 30- storey building, known as the UOB Building, resembling a stack of coins. A new building, UOB Plaza 1, was completed on an adjoining site in 1993. The old UOB building was refurbished and officially re- opened in 1995 as UOB Plaza 2.
UOB acquired several other local banks in the 1970s and 1980s, including Chung Khiaw Bank in 1971, Lee Wah Bank in 1972, Far Eastern Bank in 1984, and Industrial Commercial Bank in 1987. In 2001, it took over local rival Overseas Union Bank, and so became one of the ‘Big Three’ local banks. By 2004, it owned UOB Radanasin and Bank of Asia in Thailand.
UOB was the first local bank to obtain an Asian Currency Unit licence. It was also the first in Singapore to introduce telephone banking.
The group has been led by Wee Cho Yaw since he succeeded his father in 1974. In 2004, Wee was listed by Forbes magazine as one of the richest men in Singapore, with a fortune estimated at US$2.3 billion.
By 2005, UOB had 69 branches in Singapore and more than 430 offices worldwide. Listed since 1970, the bank’s stock is a component of the Straits Times Index. For the financial year ending 31 December 2005, the UOB Group achieved a record net profit after tax of $1.7 billion, and group income before operating expenses was $3.8 billion. It had total assets of $145 billion and shareholders’ funds of $14.9 billion.