The Back Page: The Bottom Line - UOB Continues Singapore Bank's Expansionary Trend.(United Overseas Bank )

Banker, The, July, 2004

The announcement in mid-May by United Overseas Bank (UOB), the highest-placed bank from Singapore in the 2004 Top 1000, that it had acquired 80.8% of Bank of Asia in Thailand from ABN Amro was the latest in a line of expansionist moves by banks from the city-state. UOB already owned 79% of the Thai bank, Radnasin Bank, which was recently increased to 83% through a rights issue. Together, the two banks will give UOB a combined network of 169 branches and 384 ATMs across Thailand.

At a time when Thailand's regulatory authorities are looking to reduce the number of banks in the system from the current 18, by encouraging mergers to produce a few strong well-capitalised institutions, it is evident that overseas banks that acquired Thai banks in the aftermath of the...

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