About The Company

   United Overseas Bank Limited (UOB) is committed to providing quality products and excellent customer service. Founded in 1935, UOB has a well-established regional presence, particularly in Asia where they have banking subsidiaries in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and China. 

   UOB was incorporated on 6 August 1935 as the United Chinese Bank, founded by Datuk Wee Kheng Chiang, the Bank catered mainly to the Fujian community in its early years. The change of name was effected in 1965. Over the past 76 years, UOB has grown from strength to strength. Through a series of acquisitions, it is now a leading bank in Asia. Besides Far Eastern Bank in Singapore, UOB’s major banking subsidiaries in the region are United Overseas Bank (Malaysia), United Overseas Bank (Thai), PT Bank UOB Indonesia and United Overseas Bank (China). Today, the UOB Group has a network of over 500 offices in 19 countries and territories in Asia Pacific, Western Europe and North America.

   UOB (Malaysia), a subsidiary of United Overseas Bank Group, Singapore and has had its presence in Malaysia since 1951.  UOB offers an extensive range of commercial and personal financial services through its branches and subsidiaries such as commercial lending, investment banking, treasury services, trade services, custody services, cash management, home loans, credit cards, wealth management and bank assurance products. UOB constantly aligned with their parent company’s mission to be a premier bank in the Asia-Pacific region, committed to providing quality products and excellent customer service. Not to mention that, the objective of UOB are to be recognized as a leader in consumer and commercial banking services, with investment banking products in support as well as to provide quality products and excellent customer service.

 Competition in the Malaysian financial sector is expected to intensify, thus, UOB (Malaysia) will remain vigilant in monitoring and managing risks and expenses by continue to build their IT and branch infrastructure, to strengthen the talent pool and to enhance bank’s capabilities to improve the delivery of quality services and products to meet the needs of UOB’s customers. Align with their mission and objective, in Malaysia UOB had been awarded for their achievement such as Best Foreign Cash Management Bank in Malaysia as well as Highest Payment Volume Growth of Total Credit and UOB Malaysia Visa Classic, etc.

          Today, UOB (Malaysia) operates 45 branches throughout the country, making it the foreign bank with the largest branch network and it rated AAA1 by the Rating Agency of Malaysia. The Bank is currently lead by CEO, Ronnie Yan while the Head of Finance is hold by Wong Kim Chong since March 2015. The Finance and Corporate structure in UOB's is categories to few department which are Capital Management & Basel Reporting, Financial Information Management, Entity Reporting & Control and Performance Management.  

              

UOB Branch Network

Finance and Corporate Structure 

Since I was performing my intern at Entity Reporting and Control Department, let me clasify "What are the Key Roles of the Entity Reporting and Control Department?"

The essential roles and duties of ERC department include the following:

1.  Accounts Payable (money out) – In order to maintain great relationships with vendors  making sure that everyone gets paid on time is a vital role. They always scheduled to assure that the least amount of money has to go out per payment, i.e., no late payment charges!
2. Accounts Receivable and Revenue Tracking (money in) – Another critical duty of the ERC department is to account for and track receivables, including outstanding invoices and any required collection actions. Accounts receivable is responsible for creating and tracking invoices.  The responsibility here includes assuring that customers pay those invoices on time, so a system of friendly reminders is crucial within the department.
3. Payroll – Payroll is a critical function of ERC department and includes making sure all employees are paid accurately and timely. In addition, proper tax is assessed and tax payments are on time with state and federal government agencies. 
4. Reporting and Financial Statements – When I come into ERC department, I could say almost half of my colleague is busy in collecting data properly in the accounting software to prepare year-end financial reports. Financial Report and other reports are needed for communication to investors, banks and other professionals that play a role in the growth of UOB banking sector, thus, ERC play an important role in the whole banking unit.
5. Financial Controls – Financial controls include reconciliations, dividing the responsibilities and following the GAAP standards of accounting principles, all of which are implemented with view toward compliance, fraud and theft prevention.  The role of the Controller is to ensure procedures are set up properly to manage that process without errors. 

         These are just some of the main roles and functions of ERC department in UOB, there are many more responsibilities the department is responsible for and a number of subcategories. For instance, inventory control and tracking, government forms and tax filings and fund raising might be other essential areas of focus.

          The great news is that if these functions are covered well, as the ERC department creates a solid base and the most important measurement tool for UOB’s entire operation due to their good working culture. Inside ERC department, they promote healthy work-life balance working culture within the department. As long as you finish perform the task in hand on time, you are allow to leave on time and enjoy your personal time. However, if you couldn’t finish the job task you might need to stay back after working hour thus, it train employees to be more self-independent and responsible in their works. From what I see, most of my colleagues able to achieve good work life balance through their Facebook page sharing. Besides, working in ERC department, you need to be smart and fast as it is a fast paced work environment where you can learn and pick up new skill easily as the working environment is extremely co-operative!

                         So , let’s see how my journey as a finance intern in UOB start .