OCBC, Singapore’s third largest lender, has hired Tan Kee Phong as its head of capital markets, which will see him oversee the bank’s debt capital markets and loan syndication team.
Prior to joining OCBC, Tan was head of capital markets Singapore at Standard Chartered and, before that, had worked at Citicorp Investment Bank (Singapore) for 16 years in debt capital markets and corporate finance.
Tan reports to Gan Kok Kim, head of group investment banking at OCBC. Sim Buck Khim, who heads the debt capital markets team, and Mark Yeo Cheng Tiong, who heads the loan syndication team, will both report directly to Tan. The two co-headed the capital markets business prior to Tan’s appointment.
"I am delighted to have him on board our investment banking team and am confident that he will provide the right direction and leadership to drive our capital markets business forward," said Gan in a statement.
OCBC's rivals - DBS and United Overseas Bank (UOB) - have both intensified their push into investment banking in an effort to boost fee income. Notably, DBS has become more active in the dollar bond and offshore renminbi space during the past few years while UOB set up a dedicated M&A team last year, and has also been beefing up its local-currency bond origination and syndication in the region.
According to Dealogic data, OCBC is placed fifth in Singapore debt capital markets league tables year-to-date, compared to DBS and UOB, which are placed first and third respectively.
In the Singapore loan league tables, OCBC is placed fourth, ahead of DBS, which is placed fifth and UOB, which is placed tenth.
