UOB opens new headquarters in Shanghai

UOB Plaza is the first office building owned by a foreign bank in the Lujiazui Financial District.

United Overseas Bank (UOB) opened its new headquarters building in Shanghai in a step to reaffirm its long-term commitment to China’s market and stakeholders, an announcement revealed.

The brand new UOB Plaza is the first office building owned by a foreign bank in the Lujiazui Financial District which is China’s largest financial hub that drives Shanghai’s development as an international financial centre, UOB said.

“For more than 30 years, UOB has been building our China franchise and deepening our relationships with customers, colleagues and the community,” UOB’s deputy chairman and CEO Wee Ee Cheong said. “Our investment in UOB Plaza also symbolises the connections we are building for our customers to seize regional opportunities.”

The official opening of the headquarters was also in conjunction with the 10th anniversary of UOB China, UOB’s locally incorporated subsidiary, which has expanded its network to 16 branches across 12 major cities in the country.

“With China continuing to liberalise its financial sector and to promote regional initiatives such as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and Greater Bay Area scheme, we will forge ahead to connect our customers to more opportunities within and across borders,” UOB China’s president and CEO Peter Foo added.

Meanwhile, UOB China also signed three Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) to deepen its support of China’s economic and enterprise growth, the announcement revealed.

It signed MOUs with China CITIC Bank to help more companies invest within and outside China and with Singapore head-quartered development firm Ascendas-Singbridge Group to provide business and financial solutions for startups and small-and-medium sized (SMEs) in China.

The third MOU was with the Lujiazui Administration Bureau of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone to support the growth of the financial technology (FinTech) landscape in the Lujiazui Financial District.

“Our collaboration with UOB will serve as a conduit between China and Singapore, enabling us to draw references from Singapore’s best practices in supporting FinTech growth as we strive to create in Lujiazui one of the world’s best fintech communities,” a spokesperson from the Lujiazui Administration Bureau of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone noted.