NAB bolt-on right for OCBC but test lies ahead

LAST week OCBC Bank said it had entered into an agreement to buy a mortgage loan book worth about US$1.7 billion and a US$3.05 billion deposit portfolio from National Australia Bank (NAB).

Although OCBC's press release headlined the transaction as buying NAB's private wealth business in Singapore and Hong Kong, the statement detailed the acquisition as comprising mortgages and deposits. It comes with about 11,000 customers - more than 7,000 in Singapore and about 4,000 in Hong Kong - mainly from the affluent segment.

The additio…