History Hong_Leong_Bank

1 history

1.1 beginnings
1.2 expansion
1.3 acquisitions
1.4 acquisition of eon bank

history
early beginnings

hong leong bank began operations in 1905 in kuching, sarawak under name of kwong lee mortgage & remittance company. company granted loans against security of export commodities such pepper, rubber , other indigenous products. provided services of remitting money of overseas chinese families in southeast region of china.

in initial years, company went through difficult period of growth when number of economic crises occurred. first world war broke out in 1914 causing panic in financial circles. few years after hostilities ended, post-war recession of 1920-1921 set in. after recession, company opened branch in sibu in 1923 , 3 years later branch opened in singapore in 1926. year 1929 saw start of great depression lasted until 1933. depression caused sharp fall in export earnings of commodities , many business concerns, including banks, in financial difficulties.

kwong lee mortgage , remittance company survived these setbacks because of strong cash reserves , conservative operational policy. after depression, on 26 october 1934, company converted public company under name kwong lee bank , shortly after, third branch of bank opened in sarikei in 1937.

the second world war caused temporary disruption in currency , banking system. after war immediate task 1 of reconstruction , rehabilitation. in connection, kwong lee bank played important role revive confidence , business activities providing financing enable old businesses resumed , new ones set up. aftermath of war saw continued expansion of bank, , in 1964, oversea-chinese banking corporation of singapore (ocbc bank) under stewardship of tan chin tuan (its chairman , managing director) acquired 52% majority stake in kwong lee bank lam family.

in 1973, kwong lee bank opened branch in bintangor.

expansion

in late 1977, yang amat mulia tunku osman ibni tunku temenggong ahmad, member of royal family state of johor, came in shareholder of bank , acquired 30% of share capital both ocbc bank , lam family. period subsequent saw change in direction of kwong lee bank s expansion. 5 banking branch offices in sarawak (kuching, sibu, sarikei, serian , bintangor) , 1 in singapore, bank expanded operations peninsular malaysia when opened first branch in kuala lumpur in may 1978 , followed branch in johor bahru during same month. on next 4 years, total of 6 branches opened in labis, segamat, bintulu, kota tinggi, kota kinabalu , kluang , on 1 january 1982, head office relocated kuching kuala lumpur.

acquisitions

in may 1982, kwong lee bank berhad acquired mui group, corporate group controlled malaysian business tycoon tan sri dato khoo kay peng. exiting shareholders include ocbc bank (which acquired stake in bank in 1964) , members of lam family (relatives , descendants of founder lam ji chiew). kwong lee bank berhad renamed malayan united bank berhad on 2 february 1983. subsequently, renamed mui bank bhd. under mui banner bank grew 11 branches (including singapore) 35 branches.

on 3 january 1994, hong leong group malaysia acquired mui bank berhad through hong leong credit berhad , renamed hong leong bank berhad (hlbb). acquisition of mui bank berhad hong leong group malaysia (which controlled malaysian business tycoon quek leng chan) followed shortly after aborted takeover attempt of mui group malaysian tycoon tan sri dato vincent tan chee yioun (through vehicle berjaya corporation).

hlbb listed on kuala lumpur stock exchange on 17 october 1994 total paid capital enlarged rm 470 million. since then, growth of bank has been remarkable.

the consolidation of banking institution meet requirements of bank negara malaysia marks milestone hong leong bank berhad. completion of merger of hong leong bank wah tat bank , hong leong finance credit corporation malaysia on 1 january 2001 marks emergence of larger banking group.

hlbb member of hong leong group. group has diversified businesses in financial services, manufacturing, property , infrastructure development.

acquisition of eon bank

on 6 may 2011, hong leong bank announced has completed acquisition on eon capital bhd s assets , liabilities, making eon bank part of hong leong bank group.

within close 8 weeks, legal vesting concluded assets , liabilities of former eon bank vested hlb. merger creates country’s fourth-largest bank asset size of more rm140 billion total of 329 branches.