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UOB sharpens focus on cross-border growth with new Head of ASEAN and Greater China role
The senior position reinforces the Bank's strategy to capture growing regional trade, investment and wealth flows to become the leading bank in ASEAN
Mr Tan Choon Hin, currently Deputy Chief Risk Officer, will assume the new role of Head of ASEAN and Greater China.
Singapore, 18 August 2026 – UOB today announced the appointment of Mr Tan Choon Hin as its Head of ASEAN and Greater China, effective 1 September 2026.
In this new role, Mr Tan will drive UOB’s regional business, including its fully-owned subsidiaries in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and mainland China, as well as its branches in Hong Kong SAR and Taiwan. He will work closely with the country CEOs and management teams across these seven markets to strengthen connectivity and collaboration across the Bank’s regional businesses, accelerate cross-border and revenue opportunities, and deliver long-term growth for the Bank.
Mr Tan will also oversee the Bank’s Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Advisory unit, a dedicated team that helps companies seize cross-border growth opportunities by connecting them to ecosystem partners and industry networks across ASEAN and Greater China. In the past six months, the Bank’s FDI Advisory unit has supported more than 300 cross-border expansion plans, with projected investments of S$5.6 billion. The FDI flows into Southeast Asia has been growing strongly. Over the past decade, FDI into ASEAN has more than doubled even as global FDI declined by around 20 per cent.
Mr Tan, the Bank’s current Deputy Chief Risk Officer, will report to Mr Wee Ee Cheong, Deputy Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of UOB, and will be a member of the Bank’s Management Executive Committee.
The appointment is part of UOB’s ongoing leadership transformation and reflects the Bank’s strategy to deepen regional connectivity and capture the growing cross-border flows between ASEAN and Greater China. As ASEAN continues to benefit from healthy trade and investment flows, stronger connectivity with Greater China and ongoing supply chain shifts into the region, the role will enhance connectivity across the Bank’s franchise and help customers to seize opportunities across the region.
Mr Wee Ee Cheong, Deputy Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, UOB, said, “ASEAN is at the heart of UOB’s growth strategy and is becoming an increasingly important global economic hub. As trade, investment and wealth flows between ASEAN and Greater China deepen, new opportunities are emerging across the region. This new role reinforces our commitment to capturing these opportunities for customers and supporting them in their cross-border growth. Choon Hin’s regional leadership experience and deep understanding of our franchise position him well to accelerate growth across our regional franchise as we advance UOB’s ambition to be the leading bank in ASEAN.”
Mr Tan has more than 30 years of banking, credit and risk management experience across both ASEAN and Greater China. He joined UOB in 2012 as Head of Group Credit (Retail), and thereafter as Head of Group Business Banking. In 2016, he was appointed Chief Executive Officer of UOB Thailand. Under his leadership, UOB Thailand grew to become the second largest foreign bank and one of the top three card issuers. He also supported the facilitation of foreign direct investments into Thailand and support regional clients to enter new markets. In 2024, he returned to Singapore as Deputy Chief Risk Officer, where he was responsible for enhancing the Bank’s risk management approach to strengthen governance and grow the risk culture across the organisation. Mr Tan holds a Bachelor of Business degree from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
