Singapore’s OCBC, the second-largest banking group in Southeast Asia, will continue to hire more staff and invest in its digital infrastructure capabilities to attract ultra-high-net-worth clients, shrugging off the turmoil caused by the US tariff war.
Group CEO Helen Wong said the lender would stay the course, despite the ongoing uncertainty caused by the tariff war, noting that OCBC was continuing to grow its business.
“We have no plans to change our HK$1.5 billion (US$192 million) investment in Hong Kong and Macau,” Wong said in a media briefing on Friday. “We will complete 50 per cent of the spending by the end of this year and the rest in 2026.”
OCBC would retain its talent to serve customers, she added.

Wong and scores of senior OCBC executives met local and regional media at the group’s 76,000 sq ft office at Airside in Kai Tak, the site of the city’s former airport.