HSBC Holdings plc has announced that HSBC Group, together with The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Asia-Pacific, has put forward a conditional proposal to privatise Hang Seng Bank through a scheme of arrangement.
If approved, the proposal would result in HSBC Asia Pacific acquiring all remaining shares of Hang Seng held by the minority shareholders and the withdrawal of listing of the Hang Seng shares from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
The proposal offers a scheme consideration of HK$155 for each scheme share, representing a 33% premium over the undisturbed 30-days average closing price of HK$116.5 per share. This represents an attractive and significant premium to Hang Seng’s historical trading prices, and analyst consensus targets, and is more than Hang Seng’s highest share price in 3.5 years, the announcement says.
The valuation of Hang Seng implied by the scheme consideration is HK$290 billion, representing a 1.8 times 1H2025 price-to-book multiple, which is significantly higher than comparable Hong Kong peers. This offer is final and will not be increased further, underscoring HSBC’s confidence in the fairness and attractiveness of the offer.
See also: The world’s chip supply chain is bracing for fallout from China’s rare-earth curbs
Through this proposal, HSBC is providing Hang Seng minority shareholders with an opportunity for immediate cash realisation, enabling them to realise the benefits from HSBC’s investment in Hang Seng without needing to wait for future dividends.
The proposal is aligned with HSBC’s strategic priority to grow its business in Hong Kong while becoming simple and agile. Hong Kong is one of HSBC’s home markets and HSBC benefits from the proud heritage and brand strength of both HSBC Asia-Pacific and Hang Seng.
The proposal represents a significant investment into Hong Kong, which underlines our confidence in the growth potential for both HSBC Asia-Pacific and Hang Seng. The Proposal will unlock opportunities for further investment and improvements in operational leverage.
See also: Trump announces additional 100% China tariff, tech controls
HSBC recognises the proud legacy and near-100-year history of Hang Seng and is committed to retaining Hang Seng’s separate authorisation as a licensed bank under the Hong Kong Banking Ordinance with its own governance, brand, distinct customer proposition and a branch network. Hang Seng’s existing customers will continue to enjoy Hang Seng’s products and services while gaining greater access to the full breadth of HSBC’s global network and full product suite, the announcement says.
HSBC Group will fund the scheme consideration with its own financial resources. The expected day one capital impact of the proposal is approximately 125 basis points which would arise following the approval of the relevant resolutions by the requisite majority at each of the Hang Seng Court Meeting and the Hang Seng General Meeting.
HSBC expects to restore its CET-1 ratio to its target operating range of 14.0%-14.5% through a combination of organic capital generation and not initiating any further buybacks for three quarters following the date of this announcement.
A decision to recommence buybacks will be subject to HSBC’s normal buyback considerations and process on a quarterly basis.
The share buyback announced on July 31 will continue in accordance with its terms. HSBC continues to target a dividend payout ratio for 2025 of 50% of earnings per ordinary share excluding material notable items and related impacts.
HSBC expects that this investment in Hang Seng will be accretive to earnings per ordinary share. — The Edge Singapore
OCBC’s mortgage specialists become RMs through four-month programme
To stay ahead of Singapore and the region’s corporate and economic trends, click here for Latest Section
Nine mortgage specialists at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) have completed a four-month upskilling programme, which expands their roles from offering home loans to recommending a full spectrum of investment and insurance products to customers.
Adapted from OCBC’s relationship manager curriculum, the first-of-its-kind training programme blends technical and soft skills through classroom teaching, case studies and role-playing.
Mortgage specialists gain exposure to OCBC’s wealth products, portfolio construction and fraud detection; the upskilled mortgage specialist will be able to fulfil the roles of a relationship manager while also providing mortgage loan advice.
The first batch of nine mortgage specialists has attained the Capital Markets and Financial Advisory Services (CMFAS) certification, administered by the Institute of Banking and Finance Singapore. This is required of wealth advisers — also known as relationship managers — and will validate their capabilities across portfolio management, asset allocation, client engagement and compliance.
The mortgage specialists who have completed the programme so far have spent an average of nine years in their roles at OCBC. They stepped into their expanded roles on Oct 1.
In an Oct 6 announcement, OCBC says the initiative also serves as a talent retention strategy, helping mortgage specialists grow their skillsets and stay engaged with the bank. “The transition from a ‘mortgage-only’ role to full-spectrum wealth advisory is a logical next step for them.”
According to OCBC, 15 senior mortgage specialists have been selected for the programme. While OCBC declined to reveal headcount figures, the bank aims to triple the number of mortgage specialists who participate in the programme over the next two years.
Home loans are often the first point of contact that customers have with OCBC; one in four new-to-bank customers begins with a home loan.
According to OCBC’s statistics, home loan customers also have twice as many products with the bank compared to those without a home loan, and assets under management are 1.6 times higher.
Tok Geok Peng, OCBC’s group head of consumer secured lending, says property is a key component of a customer’s wealth portfolio, and home loan customers often enquire about insurance to protect their homes.
“This creates organic opportunities for mortgage specialists to deepen the relationship with financial planning. In fact, uptake of the group mortgage Insurance plan — a life insurance plan that is exclusive to OCBC home loan customers — rose by nearly 15% in 2024 compared to 2023,” says Tok.
Similar to the bank’s relationship managers, graduates of the programme will also undergo annual refresher courses to stay current on developments in both mortgage and wealth management.
Sunny Quek, OCBC’s head of global consumer financial services, says homeownership is a “major life milestone”, and the financing process can be complex.
Says Quek: “Mortgage specialists play a key advisory role, often operating at the intersection of home financing and financial planning. This initiative not only expands their areas of expertise but also strengthens the OCBC Premier Banking proposition. By equipping mortgage specialists so that they can support customers holistically, from home financing to long-term wealth planning, we can deepen relationships and reinforce our position in wealth management.” — Jovi Ho
42 SMEs graduate from CDL’s SME Supplier Decarbonisation Queen Bee Programme
The first batch of 42 small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have graduated from City Developments Limited’s (CDL) SME Supplier Decarbonisation Queen Bee Programme, focused on helping SME leaders measure, manage and reduce their carbon emissions.
Launched in May 2024 with the support of Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG), the programme is a collaboration with Global Green Connect (GGC), a certified B Corporation sustainability consultant, with DBS Bank as financier partner.
The bank will provide preferential rates for the SME graduates with improved sustainability reporting.
Through the programme, GGC has partnered with a panel of carbon accounting IT solution providers, including ESGTech and ESGpedia, to measure and report emissions from the participating SME suppliers.
In addition, the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star) AdViSe platform for Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Costing (LCC) will streamline data collection, analysis and reporting to measure the environmental impact and cost efficiency of products and services.
According to CDL, participating SMEs can gain knowledge and credibility for the data they are able to collect through the programme, as the data collection framework is aligned with the requirements of sustainability reporting framework-setters CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project) and the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).
Since the launch of the programme in May 2024, CDL has engaged with some 200 SMEs. CDL is still targeting for 100 SME suppliers to graduate from the programme by the end of 2026.
Speaking at the Singapore Sustainability Academy on Oct 7, Low Yen Ling, Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry, and Culture, Community and Youth, says the next batch of SME suppliers could complete the programme in under eight months, less than half the duration of the inaugural batch.
This second phase of the programme is an abridged, 14-week version titled the CDL Queen Bee Compact: Accelerating SME Readiness for a Low-Carbon Future.
The condensed version of the original programme is tailored to SMEs that require a short learning journey, and aims to kickstart their sustainability leadership and equip them with skills like developing climate-related reports to meet client procurement requirements.
Not all SMEs under the programme began as CDL’s suppliers. The programme is targeted at both current and potential CDL suppliers. Of the 42 SME graduates, two were not CDL suppliers when they initially joined the programme.
In addition to being an existing or potential supplier to CDL, an SME looking to qualify for the programme must be a business entity registered and operating in Singapore. It must also have a minimum of 30% local ownership by Singapore citizens or Permanent Residents (PRs).
In Singapore, SMEs form over 99% of local enterprises and contribute over 40% of the nation’s GDP. SMEs here also employ 70% of Singapore’s workforce.
CDL group CEO Sherman Kwek says SMEs play a critical role in helping Singapore achieve its net-zero goals. “With large corporates striving to meet stringent carbon reporting requirements, there is a stronger business case for SMEs to embrace carbon reduction. In today’s highly competitive economy, SMEs who show capacity for carbon reporting will stand out as preferred suppliers.”
Speaking at a separate event the following day, CDL chief sustainability officer Esther An says the SME graduates have “very creative” solutions.
Speaking on an Oct 8 panel alongside Eric Lim, her counterpart from United Overseas Bank, An says she hopes banks can help “kickstart” sustainable financing among smaller firms. “Some of the SMEs — and I’m relating their wishes — they always feel that the banks are offering very good lending rates to big players but not the small players.”
An adds: “Maybe that is something you can help to accelerate, [so that] even the smaller players can enjoy better rates [on their loans]. It need not be hundreds of millions, but help them to kickstart [their journey]. They may become a unicorn one day; they may become your biggest borrowers.”
CDL also launched the CDL MicroFarm at the Singapore Sustainability Academy, designed in collaboration with local agritech SME and programme graduate V-Plus Agritech.
With 12 vertical towers, the system supports up to 576 plants at any one time. This setup can produce approximately 20 to 35 kgs of leafy greens per month, translating to an annual yield of 240 to 420 kgs, depending on the specific varieties grown. Additionally, the farm yields five to 10 kgs of fruiting vegetables monthly, depending on the seasonal mix.
CDL’s facilities management subsidiary CBM contributed facilities management knowledge, including electrical works, irrigation and flooring systems.
Plants harvested from the MicroFarm will be distributed to staff at the Singapore Sustainability Academy. — Jovi Ho
