UOB Chief Sees Pay Rise

The board has also recommended a final dividend of 55 cents and a special dividend of 20 cents per ordinary share. UOB deputy chairman and CEO Wee Ee Cheong received $10.75 million ($7.53 million) in 2019, an increase of 1.8 percent from last year, the bank said in its Annual Report, published on Wednesday.

Apart from his base salary of S$1.2 million, Wee received S$9.52 million in bonuses, 60 percent of which will be deferred and vested over the next three years. Of the deferred variable pay, 40 percent will be issued in deferred cash, while the balance will be in the form of share-linked units. He also received S$32,000 in benefits-in-kind and transport-related benefits, the report said.

The bank also said it decided to defer the adoption of a revised directors’ fee structure that would raise their fees, recommended by independent consultant Aon Hewitt and approved by the board in 2019, in view of the challenging environment exacerbated by the COVID-19 outbreak and in anticipation of difficult times ahead.

The bank, earlier announced record net earnings of S$4.34 billion ($3.1 billion) in 2019, up 8 percent from 2018.

In the report, Wee reaffirmed the bank’s confidence in Asean, saying that structural shifts in global supply chains present many opportunities in the region, which the bank is well-placed to capitalize on.

In the past year, UOB opened its first branch in Vietnam’s capital Hanoi, marking the bank’s first foray out of Ho Chi Minh City, where it has operated a representative office since 1993. The bank also acquired a Vietnam asset manager, in line with regionalization plans.

The bank also opened its seventh branch in Zhongshan, Guangdong, to support the Asean-Greater Bay Area trade flows arising from the manufacturing, information technology and logistics sectors, and is enhancing its support for sectors that support the region’s economic growth, such as through its regional U-Solar program. This year is also the first time the bank has included a standalone sustainability report.

According to the bank, it issued $950 billion in sustainable financing, including green loans, sustainability linked loans and loans for green-certified buildings in 2019. It also has $1 billion in AUM of investments that incorporate ESG factors and/or social impact assessment in the investment process.