SINGAPORE: OCBC group CEO Helen Wong will step down from her role at the end of this year, the bank said in a bourse filing on Friday (Jul 11).
She will be succeeded by the bank’s head of global wholesale banking Tan Teck Long. Mr Tan will take over as group CEO on Jan 1, 2026.
He will also with immediate effect assume the additional role of deputy CEO to facilitate the transition process over the next six months, said OCBC.
Ms Wong, 64, will remain the chairman of OCBC China and a director of OCBC Hong Kong – both “strategically important banking subsidiaries” – after her retirement, added the bank.
OCBC said that Ms Wong, who is from Hong Kong, had expressed her wish last year to retire for family reasons. She had joined OCBC in February 2020 as deputy president and head of global wholesale banking, before becoming group CEO in April 2021.
“Since the start of 2025, she has been spending more personal time in Hong Kong, where her family is based,” said OCBC.
“The Board reluctantly accepted Helen’s request to retire to spend more time with her family. We thank her for agreeing to stay on to continue providing stewardship as Chair of our China Board and a director of the Hong Kong Board, given her vast experience and deep knowledge of Greater China,” said Mr Andrew Lee, chairman of OCBC Group’s board of directors.
Ms Wong was the first woman to head a Singapore bank at the time of her appointment.
On Mr Tan’s new appointment, Mr Lee said it came after a “rigorous global search” and that the board had “unanimously agreed” that he was the best candidate.
Mr Tan, 55, joined OCBC in March 2022 and has chaired the bank’s Strategic Resilience Group since May. He also serves as a director on the boards of Bank of Ningbo and Maxwealth Fund Management Company in China, which are both affiliated with OCBC.
“He has demonstrated sterling leadership that goes beyond growing the wholesale banking business; as chair of the OCBC Strategic Resilience Group, he has shown the ability to zero in on the critical issues, be forward-thinking and act decisively,” said Mr Lee.
