<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=452><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD>Top Print Edition Stories
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>Published April 6, 2010
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>Unhappy OCBC private bankers threaten to quit
Some are peeved over fallout from merger with ING private banking arm
By VEN SREENIVASAN
(SINGAPORE) When companies with different cultures and backgrounds merge, turf wars and defections sometimes follow. OCBC and ING are now trying to resolve their own 'marriage' issues.
<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 align=left><TBODY><TR><TD bgColor=#ffffff>[FONT=Geneva, Helvetica, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]<!-- REPLACE EVERYTHING IN CAPITALS WITH YOUR OWN VALUES --><TABLE class=quoteBox border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=144 align=left><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=bottom>
</TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#fffff1><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=124 align=center><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top>'Staff volatility is not unusual in private banking in Singapore.'
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>A sizeable proportion of OCBC Bank's private bankers have given notice of their intention to leave due to unhappiness over roles and positions relative to their counterparts from the recently acquired Asian private banking business of ING, BT understands.
The bank confirmed that around 10 of its original 50-odd private bankers had asked to leave.
Reliable sources told BT that these bankers were primarily those servicing Indonesian, Malaysian and Singapore clients and they had refused to join the Bank of Singapore (BOS), which officially took over the business of OCBC's private banking business last week. Some other employees in their division had also threatened to quit.
The bankers are said to be unhappy about how the merger is playing out at the operational level. In particular, some perceive too much control being vested in the hands of the ING cohort. There have also been territorial fights over who takes over clients and businesses which are duplicated in both banks.
In a written statement, Renato 'Bing' de Guzman, who heads the merged unit, told BT: 'The integration of two different organizations resulting from any merger and acquisition activity is not expected to be totally smooth. There will be integration issues to be resolved. Staff volatility is also not unusual in private banking in Singapore. The market has picked up, with corresponding increase in the demand for relationship managers. Bank of Singapore continues to hire relationship managers to grow its business.'
OCBC (which has a private banking portfolio of almost S$8 billion, primarily regional clients) bought the European bank's Asian private banking operations (with a portfolio of almost S$16 billion) for US$1.5 billion last October in a deal that elevated it to Singapore's second-ranked bank by assets.
[COLOR=_______]Mr de Guzman, a prominent Filipino banker who headed ING Asia Private Bank before the buyout, heads the merged unit.[/COLOR] OCBC's own head of wealth management, Olivier Dennis, now reports to him.
OCBC also doled out hefty retention packages to all 150 of ING's private bankers to add to its existing pool of nearly 50 private bankers - a deal which OCBC chief executive David Conner called a 'transformational acquisition for OCBC'.
The newly minted BOS (which OCBC has owned since the 1950s) unveiled an ambitious game plan that would see it taking over the private banking business and consolidating its position as a leading private banker in South-east Asia, and making a push into China.
But according to insiders, it didn't take long for disenchantment to set in among the OCBC veterans. Besides positions in the pecking order and turf wars, disputes are also said to centre on the strategic direction of the newly formed outfit.
Still, some of those who indicated they would leave may ultimately not do so.
BT understands that OCBC and BOS are soothing ruffled feathers and offering better packages to induce some of the bankers to stay.
This is not the first time OCBC's private banking unit has been hit by mass resignations. Its private banking staff strength shrank from over 70 to 50 in 2006 when its private bankers jumped ship to join foreign banks such as UBS and Credit Suisse.
It is not uncommon within the industry to see bankers leave in the wake of mergers and acquisitions.
A third of the staff of the Singapore office of RBS Coutts, or about 70 people, defected to Swiss bank BSI early last year. Similarly, there was an exodus of Lehman Brothers staffers after the now-defunct bank's Asian business was bought by Japan's Nomura Holdings. And UBS has lost more than a dozen senior private bankers to rivals Barclays and Credit Suisse over the past two years.<SCRIPT language=javascript> <!-- // Check for Mac. var strAgent; var blnMac; strAgent = navigator.userAgent; strAgent.indexOf('Mac') > 0 ? blnMac = true:blnMac = false; if (blnMac == true) { document.write('
'); } //--> </SCRIPT>
[/FONT]</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>Published April 6, 2010
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>Unhappy OCBC private bankers threaten to quit
Some are peeved over fallout from merger with ING private banking arm
By VEN SREENIVASAN
(SINGAPORE) When companies with different cultures and backgrounds merge, turf wars and defections sometimes follow. OCBC and ING are now trying to resolve their own 'marriage' issues.
<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 align=left><TBODY><TR><TD bgColor=#ffffff>[FONT=Geneva, Helvetica, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]<!-- REPLACE EVERYTHING IN CAPITALS WITH YOUR OWN VALUES --><TABLE class=quoteBox border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=144 align=left><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=bottom>
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top>
- Renato 'Bing' de Guzman,
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top>who heads the merged unit
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD height=39>
The bank confirmed that around 10 of its original 50-odd private bankers had asked to leave.
Reliable sources told BT that these bankers were primarily those servicing Indonesian, Malaysian and Singapore clients and they had refused to join the Bank of Singapore (BOS), which officially took over the business of OCBC's private banking business last week. Some other employees in their division had also threatened to quit.
The bankers are said to be unhappy about how the merger is playing out at the operational level. In particular, some perceive too much control being vested in the hands of the ING cohort. There have also been territorial fights over who takes over clients and businesses which are duplicated in both banks.
In a written statement, Renato 'Bing' de Guzman, who heads the merged unit, told BT: 'The integration of two different organizations resulting from any merger and acquisition activity is not expected to be totally smooth. There will be integration issues to be resolved. Staff volatility is also not unusual in private banking in Singapore. The market has picked up, with corresponding increase in the demand for relationship managers. Bank of Singapore continues to hire relationship managers to grow its business.'
OCBC (which has a private banking portfolio of almost S$8 billion, primarily regional clients) bought the European bank's Asian private banking operations (with a portfolio of almost S$16 billion) for US$1.5 billion last October in a deal that elevated it to Singapore's second-ranked bank by assets.
[COLOR=_______]Mr de Guzman, a prominent Filipino banker who headed ING Asia Private Bank before the buyout, heads the merged unit.[/COLOR] OCBC's own head of wealth management, Olivier Dennis, now reports to him.
OCBC also doled out hefty retention packages to all 150 of ING's private bankers to add to its existing pool of nearly 50 private bankers - a deal which OCBC chief executive David Conner called a 'transformational acquisition for OCBC'.
The newly minted BOS (which OCBC has owned since the 1950s) unveiled an ambitious game plan that would see it taking over the private banking business and consolidating its position as a leading private banker in South-east Asia, and making a push into China.
But according to insiders, it didn't take long for disenchantment to set in among the OCBC veterans. Besides positions in the pecking order and turf wars, disputes are also said to centre on the strategic direction of the newly formed outfit.
Still, some of those who indicated they would leave may ultimately not do so.
BT understands that OCBC and BOS are soothing ruffled feathers and offering better packages to induce some of the bankers to stay.
This is not the first time OCBC's private banking unit has been hit by mass resignations. Its private banking staff strength shrank from over 70 to 50 in 2006 when its private bankers jumped ship to join foreign banks such as UBS and Credit Suisse.
It is not uncommon within the industry to see bankers leave in the wake of mergers and acquisitions.
A third of the staff of the Singapore office of RBS Coutts, or about 70 people, defected to Swiss bank BSI early last year. Similarly, there was an exodus of Lehman Brothers staffers after the now-defunct bank's Asian business was bought by Japan's Nomura Holdings. And UBS has lost more than a dozen senior private bankers to rivals Barclays and Credit Suisse over the past two years.<SCRIPT language=javascript> <!-- // Check for Mac. var strAgent; var blnMac; strAgent = navigator.userAgent; strAgent.indexOf('Mac') > 0 ? blnMac = true:blnMac = false; if (blnMac == true) { document.write('
'); } //--> </SCRIPT>
[/FONT]</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
