Difficult to grow through acquisitions today: UOB's Wee Cho Yaw

UOB chairman emeritus Wee Cho Yaw, who orchestrated several acquisitions in his time as chief executive officer, sees difficulty in executing acquisitions and getting growth from them today.

"We have to be very careful," he told shareholders on Thursday, saying that there are risks behind acquiring not just the assets, but also the liabilities, of a target company.

UOB's chief executive officer Wee Ee Cheong said the bank is still growing organically, having "planted seeds" to grow in South-east Asia.

"Size is not everything. You have many big banks - they are big, but they can fail also."