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Hong Leong Bank

Hong Leong Bank Berhad
Publicly traded company
Traded as MYX:
ISIN MYL5819OO007
Industry Financial Services
Founded 1905
Founder Lam Ji Chiew
Headquarters Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Number of locations
329 branches
Area served
Malaysia
Singapore
Hong Kong
China
Vietnam
Cambodia
Key people
Quek Leng Chan, Chairman
Domenic Fuda, Group Managing Director & CEO
Products Personal Financial Services
Business & Corporate Banking
Global Markets
Islamic Banking
Revenue IncreaseMYR 4.039 billion 2014
MYR 4.007 billion 2013
IncreaseMYR 2.102 billion 2014
MYR 1.856 billion 2013
Total assets IncreaseMYR 170.4 billion 2014
MYR 163.6 billion 2013
Parent Hong Leong Group
Website www.hlb.com.my

Hong Leong Bank Berhad (MYX: ) is a major public listed banking group in Malaysia.

Hong Leong Bank was founded by Lam Ji Chiew and began its operations in 1905 in Kuching, Sarawak under the name of Kwong Lee Mortgage & Remittance Company. The company granted loans against the security of export commodities such as pepper, rubber and other indigenous products. It also provided the services of remitting money of overseas Chinese to their families in Southeast region of China.

In the initial years, the company went through a difficult period of growth when a number of economic crises occurred. The First World War broke out in 1914 causing panic in the financial circles. A few years after hostilities ended, the post-war Recession of 1920-1921 set in. After the recession, the company opened its branch in Sibu in 1923 and three years later another branch was opened in Singapore in 1926. The year 1929 saw the start of the Great Depression that lasted until 1933. The Depression caused a sharp fall in the export earnings of commodities and many business concerns, including some banks, were in financial difficulties.

Kwong Lee Mortgage and Remittance Company survived all these setbacks because of its strong cash reserves and its conservative operational policy. Immediately after the Depression, on 26 October 1934, the company was converted into a public company under the name Kwong Lee Bank and shortly after, the third branch of the Bank was opened in Sarikei in 1937.

The Second World War caused a temporary disruption in the currency and banking system. After the war the immediate task was one of reconstruction and rehabilitation. In this connection, Kwong Lee Bank played an important role to revive confidence and business activities by providing financing to enable old businesses to be resumed and new ones to be set up. The aftermath of the war saw the continued expansion of the Bank, and in 1964, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation of Singapore (OCBC Bank) under the stewardship of Tan Chin Tuan (its then Chairman and Managing Director) acquired a 52% majority stake in Kwong Lee Bank from the Lam family.


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