Home » Supplement » Singapore
UOB chief sees good tidings on China’s growth
Print Edition
UNITED Overseas Bank, one of the top banks in Singapore, is optimistic about future development in China, as economic ties grow stronger between the two countries.
“Singapore has been playing a critical role in the internationalization of the yuan since becoming an offshore center in May 2013,” Eric Lian, president and chief executive officer at UOB China, told Shanghai Daily.
“UOB is uniquely positioned to support the progress and facilitate the development of Shanghai as a world-class financial and logistics center. We are committed to acting as a bridge between China and the rest of Asia,” he said.
Sitting in UOB China’s headquarters in Shanghai’s Lujiazui area, Lian talked to the newspaper about business opportunities he sees for the bank on China’s mainland.
Q: What opportunities does UOB China see in the growing ties between China and Singapore?
A: The latest initiatives between China and Singapore pushed yuan internationalization and liberalization to another level. The initiatives include a recent announcement of Monetary Authority of Singapore on June 13 to launch a facility for providing overnight yuan liquidity of financial institutions in Singapore, and a directive by People’s Bank of China (PBOC) Nanjing Branch to allow eligible corporates and individuals in the Suzhou Industrial Park to conduct cross-border yuan transactions with Singapore. For companies with cross-border needs, these new initiatives allow them to raise yuan funding at a lower cost via Singapore. Having Singapore as an offshore yuan center offers another avenue to deploy excess yuan funds back to China’s mainland, which bodes well for more investment options in yuan.
We believe that the deepening ties between China and Singapore will also increase cross-border trade and investment between China and the rest of Asia. UOB has developed a comprehensive suite of cross-border yuan solutions in recognition of China’s increasing influence in regional trade and as more companies rely on the yuan to do business. This will help our clients to take advantage of the efficiencies that payment and trade settlement in yuan can offer.
Q: What is UOB’s core competitive strength as a Singapore-based regional bank, when compared with other foreign banks on China’s mainland?
A: UOB has taken many years to build its regional network of more than 500 offices across Asia. Such a network cannot be replicated quickly or easily and is the foundation on which we support our clients as they seize opportunities across Asia.
UOB’s prudent approach to manage risks and growth has placed us in a strong position to meet the Basel III standards. We are one of the very few foreign banks with a rating of Aa1 by Moody’s and AA- by Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings, respectively.
We are actively working with various Singapore and Chinese government bodies like IE Singapore EDB, and CCPIT to help Chinese companies to go abroad and foreign companies coming into China. For instance, two years ago we became the first bank in Southeast Asia to set up a dedicated Foreign Direct Advisory (FDA) unit first in Singapore, then in eight other locations including China.
Q: What are the major drivers of the growth of UOB China in the past few years?
A: UOB has been operating in China for 30 years. While we see tremendous potential between China and Asia off the back of increasing trade and capital needs and rising personal wealth, we continue to adopt a disciplined approach to how we grow our business in China. Our focus has been on ensuring that we have a strong and sustainable business model that can support our clients’ growth plans in the long run, through market cycles. With this in mind, we have taken time to establish deep roots and invest in building a pool of local talent that can support our clients with their domestic and regional ambitions.
Q: What’s your view on the development of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ)? What are the latest developments of UOB in the FTZ?
A: We are excited about the development of the FTZ and the opportunities that it will offer. The new policies launched in the FTZ in the past 11 months are in line with the country’s agenda of financial liberalization and yuan internationalization. We also appreciate that when it comes to major reform, it is important to take incremental steps and be patient as progress is made.
Our new sub-branch in the FTZ, which was opened last month, is focused on providing cross-border yuan financing solutions for clients conducting business between China and the rest of Asia.
The issuance of new guidelines in the FTZ provides the foundation for some of the deals that we have been working on with our clients. We have also been selected by PBOC as one of the six foreign banks with presence in the FTZ to receive special guidance in order to complete the Separated-ledger Accounting System successfully within the shortest possible time.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
