NAB to offload Asia wealth management unit
(11 May 2017 – Australia) National Australia Bank (NAB) has sold its Asia wealth management unit to Singaporean lender Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp (OCBC).
According to reports, the portfolio is comprised of around US$1.7 billion (A$2.3 billion) worth of mortgages and deposits of approximately US$3.05 billion.
NAB’s divestment of the business follows its sale of UK-based Clydesdale Bank in 2016. The bank said the sale would allow it to focus on Asian corporate, business and institutional customers. However, that market is dominate by global banks, with Standard Chartered, HSBC and Citigroup account for more than 50 percent of the primary transaction banking market share across the top 1000 institutions in Asia (excl. Japan) according to East & Partners Asia Institutional Transaction Banking Report.
The addition of NAB’s portfolio will increase OCBC’s mortgage loan book by about four percent and the lender will also gain access to about 11,000 new customers, the Singapore bank’s statement said.
The transaction is expected to be completed before the end of the year, subject to regulatory approval, and the business will be positive for the bank’s earnings within a year, OCBC said.
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