Who is Tan Teck Long, the former DBS veteran who is OCBC’s incoming CEO?

[SINGAPORE] Tan Teck Long is no stranger in the banking world, albeit not yet a household name. But he was thrust into the limelight on Friday (Jul 11), following the announcement that he would take over from Helen Wong as CEO of OCBC.

The 55-year-old, who is currently the lender’s head of global wholesale banking, will assume the role on Jan 1, 2026. He brings with him a deep knowledge of the China market, an important prong of the bank’s China-Asean strategy.

To facilitate a smooth transition, Tan – who joined OCBC in 2022 – will take on the additional role of deputy CEO for the next six months.

In a statement on Friday, OCBC board chairman Andrew Lee said: “After a rigorous global search, the board unanimously agreed that Teck Long was the best candidate to take the helm.”

Almost three decades with DBS

Before joining OCBC, Tan had been with DBS for close to 30 years. At South-east Asia’s largest bank, he last held the role of chief risk officer.

Prior to that, he was head of DBS’ corporate bank and chief operating officer of the institutional bank from January 2016 to June 2018. He was also head of DBS’ institutional banking group in China from September 2011 to January 2016.

His other senior roles at DBS included being the group head of special assets management and group head of corporate real estate strategy and administration.

OCBC previously said that it hired Tan as part of a regular review of its senior-management bench strength to ensure that its top executives remain relevant to the bank’s strategic objectives.

Tan had been identified through a search conducted by an independent external executive search firm. He was also assessed by OCBC’s board of directors and was found to have the “requisite knowledge and experience for the position”.

Roles at OCBC

As head of global wholesale banking at South-east Asia’s second-largest bank, Tan is responsible for all banking relationships with OCBC’s wholesale customers – small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), large corporates and financial institutions.

He also oversees two product groups: cash management and trade under the transaction banking business; as well as the investment banking business.

The wholesale banking business made up about 38 per cent of the lender’s overall profit before tax in 2024. Profit before income tax for the segment was down 10 per cent at S$3.5 billion. This came on the back of a decline in net interest income, as well as higher expenses and allowances, which together more than offset an increase in fee income.

Tan has also been chairing the OCBC Strategic Resilience Group since May. This group aims to calibrate the bank’s position amid continued global shifts, strengthen its resilience, and improve its long-term business sustainability by seeking new growth engines.

In China, Tan serves as a director on the boards of OCBC-affiliated Bank of Ningbo and Maxwealth Fund Management Company.

Greater China-Asean flows

OCBC in 2023 launched a corporate strategy to capitalise on the increasing trade and investment flows between the Greater China region and Asean.

For Tan, his goal was to increase revenue from Greater China corporates operating in Asean by more than 50 per cent by 2025. He also aimed to gain more than 26,000 new SME customers in Hong Kong over three years.

At the time, OCBC was also looking to grow its transactional banking capabilities in Greater China to achieve more than 500 regional mandates for cash management over the following five years, and double its investment banking revenue in three years.

By 2025, the division booked strong revenue growth of 35 per cent, and customer growth of more than 50 per cent from “surging” Greater China-Asean flows.

According to OCBC’s annual report, in 2024, the bank saw a nearly 30 per cent year-on-year rise in new-to-bank customers that were Chinese companies entering the Asean market.