UOB-Kay Hian

UOB Kay Hian Holdings Limited is a Singapore-based brokerage firm that engages in brokerage services, private wealth management, investment management and financial research. UOB Kay Hian was founded in the early 1900s by Khoo Kay Hian as Kay Hian & Co (Pte).

It is headquartered in Singapore, with additional offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Jakarta, Makati City, London, Toronto, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and New York City. Following its incorporation in June 1970 and the merger of Kay Hian Holdings with UOB Securities in October 2000, UOB Kay Hian Holdings was established.

History

In the early 1900s, Khoo Kay Hian established a stockbroking firm, Kay Hian & Co, to deal in commodities and securities.[5] Kay Hian & Co was one of the founding members of the Singapore Stockbrokers Association. The company was incorporated as a private company, Kay Hian & Co (Pte), in June 1970.

Controversies

Breaches of anti-money laundering rules and business conduct compliance failures

On 31 August 2022, UOB Kay Hian was fined S$375,000 by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) for failing to comply with business conduct requirements under the Securities and Futures (Licensing and Conduct of Business) Regulations, as well as anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism requirements listed by the MAS.[10] UOB Kay Hian failed to detect and report suspicious transactions despite red flags of potential nominee arrangements, which may be abused to conceal beneficial ownerships and facilitate market misconduct. UOB Kay Hian also failed to verify customers' source of wealth, even though they were determined by the firm to be of higher money laundering risk.[11][12]

S$3 billion money laundering case in 2023

On 4 July 2025, UOB Kay Hian was handed S$2.85 million in penalty by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) for flouting anti-money laundering controls related to the 2023 money laundering case involving more than S$3 billion in assets. The 10 criminals were reportedly part of the Fujian gang, an organised crime syndicate originally from China’s Fujian province who washed more than S$3 billion in illicit funds and using multiple passports to avoid detection. All have been jailed, deported after serving their sentences and barred from re-entering Singapore.[13]

UOB Kay Hian did not adequately establish and corroborate the source of wealth of customers who posed a higher risk of money laundering, even though there were significant discrepancies in the documents they had provided. UOB Kay Hian also did not adequately investigate suspicious transactions flagged by its own system and fell short in following up on suspicious transaction reports filed against its customers. The institution failed to take adequate and timely risk mitigation measures, such as enhanced monitoring and reviewing the customers’ risk classification. In additional, UOB Kay Hian failed to implement adequate policies or processes for rating money laundering risks presented by some of its customers. This led to mis-rating of the risks and affected its ability to address higher money laundering risks presented by several persons of interest.[14]

native name	大华继显控股有限公司
native name lang	zh
type	Public
traded as	sgx: UOKH
founder	Khoo Kay Hian
key people	Chairman: Mr. Wee Ee-chao
industry	Financial services
services	Brokerage services Corporate financial advisory Private wealth management Research
revenue	SGD$375 million ‡R1R‡
operating income	SGD$124 million‡R2R‡
net income	SGD$75 million‡R3R‡
parent	United Overseas Bank
homepage	http://www.uobkayhian.com/
foundation	Early 1900s (as Kay Hian & Co)
location country	Singapore
num employees	3,036‡R4R‡

History

Controversies

Breaches of anti-money laundering rules and business conduct compliance failures

S$3 billion money laundering case in 2023

External links

References