OCBC said the change is driven by a desire to make better use of its securities capabilities to serve more clients, saying it will increase its ability to work with customers in the HNW space.

Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation – the parent of Bank of Singapore – said yesterday that it is gathering its securities business into the Singapore-headquartered bank’s global markets division, as of 1 July. The change will help OCBC develop more “holistic” propositions for HNW clients, it said.

These operations currently sit in OCBC’s stockbroking subsidiaries, OCBC Securities Pte Ltd (OSPL), OCBC Securities Brokerage (Hong Kong) Limited (OSBHK), and PT OCBC Sekuritas (Indonesia) (PTOS).

The bank said it is making the move to “better leverage” securities capabilities to serve a wider spectrum of customer segments across the group. 

Existing staff will stay in their roles; the change will not affect clients, OCBC said in a statement. 

OCBC said retail brokerage has been a major revenue driver of the securities business – OSPL ranks as a top three retail stockbroker in Singapore by trading volume over the past 10 years. 

“As part of a product group, the integration enables OCBC to develop more holistic wealth propositions for high net worth segments, entrenching its leading wealth management position. OCBC will also be able to unlock opportunities in the institutional equities space,” the bank said.

Kenneth Lai, head of global markets, will oversee the securities business as part of the enlarged division. 

Wealth benefits
The change will “enable OCBC to play a strong role in primary equity markets origination and to better serve its extensive wholesale banking client base including corporates, hedge funds, real money funds and financial intermediaries,” it said. “Bank of Singapore’s clients, including family offices, will also be better supported on their more complex wealth needs.”

OCBC cited expected growth in Asian equity markets as a factor for its move. 

“In Singapore, investor interest has been sparked by a S$5 billion ($3.85 billion) programme announced by Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in February 2025 to boost Singapore Exchange (SGX)-listed stocks. Hong Kong continues to be a major wealth hub and gateway for capital markets access into Greater China. Investors, especially institutional investors, have also shown interest in gaining access to Indonesia markets given its long-term potential,” the bank said. 

Helen Wong, group CEO of OCBC, said: “Given the many opportunities that Asia presents, we see even more potential that can be unlocked from our securities businesses, especially in the institutional equities and high net worth client spaces. That’s why this move to the product group, global markets, is strategic. Our corporate, commercial and Bank of Singapore clients, will benefit from more institutional-grade capabilities, which will be progressively introduced to meet their needs.”