Interests of OCBC and Great Eastern’s minority shareholders are fundamentally misaligned

A QUESTION was raised at OCBC’s annual general meeting (AGM) this past week about how the group’s 88.4 per cent stake in Great Eastern may have contributed to the low trading liquidity and weak market value of the insurer’s shares.

OCBC’s chairman Andrew Lee responded by noting that Great Eastern’s public float has been low for a long time. He added: “OCBC is not in the business of providing liquidity for another company.”

Lee went on to reiterate the importance of Great Eastern to OCBC. He referred to the insurer as a “strategic pillar” that OCBC is building on, and said collaboration across the group has increased.