OCBC

OCBC: Bank sets aside $500m for 4th share buyback program. Grp intends to hold the shares re-purchased as treasury shares to meet delivery obligations under its employee share schemes. New share repurchases under the fourth program will commence when the third program is completed. We note that OCBC recent award of its status as the ‘World’s Safest Bank’ by Bloomberg Markets Magazine could also place it on the investment radars of global investors, seeking safer havens, on back of a slew of recent bank downgrades in EU and US.