OCBC chief Helen Wong's 2023 salary rises 8% to $12.1 million

SINGAPORE – OCBC group chief executive Helen Wong’s salary rose in 2023 as her bank’s full-year earnings reached a new high.

Ms Wong’s annual pay for the year came in at $12.1 million, an 8 per cent increase from the $11.2 million she earned in 2022.

Her pay overtakes that of Mr Piyush Gupta, CEO of Singapore’s largest bank DBS, who took home $11.2 million in 2023. This was a drop of 27 per cent from the $15.4 million he was paid in 2022.

The 2023 variable compensation for Mr Gupta and other members of DBS’ group management committee was cut to hold them accountable for a series of digital disruptions in the bank’s services in 2023.

The highest paid among the local bank chiefs was UOB’s Mr Wee Ee Cheong, who took home $15.9 million, a 12 per cent increase from the $14.2 million he earned in 2022.

Ms Wong’s annual remuneration comprises a base salary of $1.44 million, unchanged from 2022. She also received a bonus of $6.35 million, deferred shares amounting to $4.24 million and other benefits, such as club and car benefits, worth $69,900, according to the bank’s annual report released on April 5.

The increase in her pay was smaller than the 47 per cent salary jump she had in 2022, when her pay of $11.2 million rose from $7.6 million the previous year. Ms Wong was appointed group CEO on April 15, 2021.

Singapore banks’ profit margins are expected to taper off in 2024 as tailwinds from high interest rates fade, and US Federal Reserve rate cuts loom on the horizon.

OCBC’s full-year earnings grew 27 per cent to $7.02 billion in 2023, according to results posted on Feb 28, as its margins increased in its key markets of Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Greater China amid higher interest rates.

This marked the first time its profits crossed the $7 billion mark.

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This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.