Chung Khiaw Bank Limited was a Singaporean bank that was established by millionaire

Aw Boon Haw Aw Boon-Haw (; 1882–1954), OBE, was a Chinese entrepreneur and philanthropist best known as founder of Tiger Balm. He was a son of Hakka herbalist Aw Chu-Kin, with his ancestral home in Yongding County, Fujian, China. Career Aw was a B ...

and later became a subsidiary of United Overseas Bank after takeovers in 1971–72. Part of the shares of Chung Khiaw Bank was injected to a listed company Haw Par Brothers International in 1969 and was acquired by a domestic competitor

United Overseas Bank United Overseas Bank Limited (), often known as UOB, is a Singaporean regional bank headquartered at Raffles Place, Singapore, with branches mostly found in Southeast Asia countries. It is one of the three "big local banks" in the country, t ...

(UOB) in 1971, after the parent company was takeover by

Slater Walker Slater Walker was a British industrial conglomerate turned bank that got into financial difficulties in the 1970s. It specialised in corporate raids. Its fall shook the British banking system at the time, and it had to be bailed out by the Bank of ...

. Chung Khiaw Bank merged with UOB in 1999. The brand "Chung Khiaw Bank" was survived in nearby Malaysia as a subsidiary of UOB until 1997. In 1997, UOB (Malaysia) merged with Chung Khiaw Bank (Malaysia). In 1971, Chung Khiaw Bank also have two branches in Hong Kong, which became the branches of UOB in 1999.

History

Chung Khiaw Bank was established as a family-held business on 59

Robinson Road, Singapore Robinson Road () is a major trunk road in Singapore's Central Area. The road is named after Sir William Cleaver Francis Robinson, the Governor of the Straits Settlements in 1877–1879. The land on which Robinson Road now stands was created ...

. The founding chairman of the bank was millionaire

, who famous for his "Star Newspapers", and "Tiger Balm"; after his death, Ko Teck Kin () and then

Aw Cheng Chye Aw Cheng Chye S.P.M.J., B.B.M., O.St.J (1 January 1924 – 22 August 1971) was a Singaporean millionaire, businessman, company director, philanthropist and son of businessman Aw Boon Par. Aw Cheng Chye himself was the chairman of Haw Par Brot ...

, nephew of Aw Boon Haw and son of

Aw Boon Par Aw Boon Par (; 1888–1944) was an entrepreneur and philanthropist best known for introducing Tiger Balm. He was a son of Hakka herbalist Aw Chu-Kin.Beverland, Michael (2009) ''Building Brand Authenticity: 7 Habits of Iconic Brands'' Palgrave ...

succeed the position. However, the founding managing director /

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

of the bank, was Lee Chee Shan (), husband of Aw Cheng Hu, the daughter of Aw Boon Par. It was reported that Lee himself was a blood relatives of Aw Boon Haw and Boon Par, according to Lee granddaughter's autobiography (distant relatives) and a book by the

Institute of Southeast Asian Studies An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

(

first cousin once removed A cousin is a relative who is the child of a parent's sibling; this is more specifically referred to as a first cousin. A parent of a first cousin is an aunt or uncle. More generally, in the kinship system used in the English-speaking world, c ...

). Lee still served for the bank after the death of Aw Boon Haw. In 1969, Aw Cheng Chye took most of the assets of family-held holding company Haw Par Brothers (Private) Limited public by the incorporation of Haw Par Brothers International and an

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...

. The assets including equity stake of Chung Khiaw Bank. In June 1971, the listed company was takeover by

. However, the 49.8% stake of Chung Khiaw Bank that was held by the listed company, was sold to domestic competitor

(UOB) for S$22 million. Lee Chee Shan was retired from the position "lifetime president" in July 1971 with a retirement compensation of S$750,000. Before his retirement, his monthly salary was S$35,500. Lee Chee Shan was appointed as "lifetime president" from managing director circa 1 June 1971. In 1972, a new logo for both UOB and Chung Khiaw Bank was launched. Some member of Aw family, such as Aw It Haw, remained as the director of Chung Khiaw Bank in January 1972, with the rest was related to UOB. Aw Cheng Chye also remained as the director until his death on 22 August 1971. A proposal to acquire the remaining stake of Chung Khiaw Bank by UOB by a share swap (1:1), was announced in June 1972. A minority shareholder made a public statement on the newspaper to against it, claiming the price was not favourable as well as the conflict of interest of the director from the related parties. Nevertheless, UOB acquired an additional 28.7% stake in mid-1973. In 1974, a rumor that the bank's financial position was precarious caused a bank run in its Singapore branches. This was one of the reasons why

deposit insurance Deposit insurance, deposit protection or deposit guarantee is a measure implemented in many countries to protect bank depositors, in full or in part, from losses caused by a bank's inability to pay its debts when due. Deposit insurance or deposit ...

was introduced in Singapore. Chung Khiaw Bank finally became a wholly owned subsidiary of UOB in February 1988 by issuing 15,230,903 number of UOB new shares as payment for the remaining 17.13 million number of shares (17.1%) of Chung Khiaw Bank. At the time of acquisition, Aw It Haw was still a director of Chung Khiaw Bank. In 1997, Malaysia branches was merged with UOB branches. In 1999, Chung Khiaw Bank was finally absorbed by UOB, became UOB branches.

History

Footnotes

References

Further reading