Clients at different parts of the group – including those using Bank of Singapore – can earn fees by having their "idle" securities lent to institutions.

Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) said it has become the first Singaporean bank to create a dedicated securities financing unit for institutional clients.

The unit sits in OCBC’s global markets division, which the lender said has almost doubled its share of group operating profit, year-on-year, as of 30 September last year. (It is scheduled to issue full-year 2025 results on 25 February.)

As part of the move, OCBC has appointed Jansen Chua as head of securities finance, reporting to Kenneth Lai, head of global markets. Chua joined OCBC from State Street Bank & Trust Company, where he was senior managing director and head of financing solutions for APAC.

The development affects OCBC’s private banking arm, Bank of Singapore, along with other parts of the group. Bank of Singapore clients, and others, can earn a fee because the new unit can lend out their idle securities. 

OCBC said securities financing demand has seen a “structural rise globally,” as a result of banks wanting to run their balance sheets more efficiently. Buy-side firms increasingly look for partners and support to optimise liquidity, meet collateral obligations, and implement hedging strategies in volatile markets, the bank said. (The term “buy-side” covers a wide field such as pension funds, insurers and asset managers.)