The family that is behind Singapore's UOB, a lender that provides private banking among its suite of offerings, ponders succession and control after the passing of its chairman emeritus. The story also highlights how banking remains, in certain respects, a family business.

The control of the Wee family dynasty of Singapore-headquartered United Overseas Bank is potentially up in the air as the lender contemplates governance following the death of Wee Cho Yaw (pictured), chairman emeritus, earlier in February, Bloomberg report yesterday. 

By the time Dr Wee had passed, his five children had firmly established roles within the banking dynasty that forged a $10 billion fortune. His eldest son, Wee Ee Cheong, 71, has led UOB since 2007, while his other two sons and two daughters, all over 60, have management roles elsewhere in the empire, the report said.

Asked at a briefing last week about succession planning, Ee Cheong reportedly hinted that he is open to an outsider taking over. UOB’s chief executive officer said that he is growing his “timber” of younger colleagues, an expression that translates to building the bank’s own talent pool of professionals.

The dynasty’s control of the lender is at stake. Cho Yaw’s father, Wee Kheng Chiang, founded UOB in 1935. It is now worth more than $35 billion, while the family’s UOL Group Ltd is one of Singapore’s biggest real estate developers. The report said that UOB declined to comment on the value of Cho Yaw's UOB which is due to be inherited.

WealthBriefingAsia has contacted UOB for comment, and may update this report in due course.

UOB provides services including private banking. The family ownership structure is something that UOB has been keen to stress to wealthy clients who often run family businesses themselves.

The newswire report added that at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp (OCBC), parent of Bank of Singapore, the billionaire Lee family withdrew from day-to-day management of the bank some years ago. Lee Seng Wee, the former chairman of OCBC, died in 2015, and his son Lee Tih Shih now sits on the board.