UOB

UOB: UOB will look outside Asean for acquisitions, said Wee Cho Yaw, the bank's newly-installed chairman emeritus. Add that UOB is still very small and it has to expand. Organic growth is very slow though acquisitions and subsequent integration is difficult; moreover, there are "very limited opportunities" in Asean. Personal view is that potential targets lie in Australia and Hong Kong. Add that the bank will have double-digit organic growth in South-east Asia. Outside this region, if there are opportunities, UOB will look at them. But note acquisitions are "expensive, capital-intensive" and "difficult", given that most governments are protective of their local banks.