OCBC Strengthens Institutional Capabilities with New Securities Lending Programme Powered by the Citi Securities Lending Access™ Platform

SINGAPORE – OCBC Group (“OCBC”), leveraging the Citi Securities Lending Access™ (“CSLA”) platform, has rolled out a securities lending programme. The programme enables retail and corporate customers of OCBC Securities, as well as clients of its private banking arm, Bank of Singapore, to enhance portfolio returns by lending out their idle securities to institutional borrowers for fee income. They will still receive dividends, coupon payments and bonus issues, and retain full flexibility to sell their securities at any time.

The CSLA platform, an innovative solution that digitizes and simplifies the entire securities lending lifecycle, will give OCBC access to institutional borrowers such as prime brokers and investment banks globally. They borrow securities for various strategies, including short selling securities, arbitraging and hedging strategies, which require borrowing to cover their positions.

The global securities lending business is expanding rapidly. According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, securities lending markets generated revenues of US$1.2 billion in December 2025 – a 24% year-over-year increase and the tenth consecutive month that revenues surpassed US$1 billion. As a result, revenue for the year surged 27% to US$14.9 billion.

The programme is now open to OCBC Securities customers. Currently, they can lend out US and Hong Kong shares. The programme will be extended to Bank of Singapore clients in 2026, with Singapore, Hong Kong, US and Japan shares eligible to be lent out for a start. Shares must be custodised with OCBC Securities or Bank of Singapore to be eligible for lending. Once a loan is confirmed, the shares from OCBC Securities or Bank of Singapore are then loaned to an OCBC account, before being on-loaned to the borrower.

Mr Kenneth Lai, Head of Global Markets, OCBC, said, “We are delighted to be able to collaborate with Citi, leveraging their best-in-class technology and deep expertise in this field, to offer securities lending services to our clients. Securities lending brings benefits such as higher trading volumes, price discovery and market efficiency.  OCBC Securities and Bank of Singapore customers can also now enjoy the benefits of earning additional return on their investment portfolios by choosing to lend their securities. This development marks an important milestone in our journey, and demonstrates our unwavering commitment to delivering innovative solutions and value to our customers.”

Launched in 2021, the CSLA platform provides seamless access to the securities lending market. Citi’s collaboration with OCBC marks a significant expansion of CSLA in Asia, bringing its benefits to one of the region's most substantial and varied investor communities.

Ms Mridula Iyer, Asia South Head of Services, Citi, said, “We are proud to work with a leading Singapore institution like OCBC as we deliver innovative digital solutions that address the evolving needs of the Asian market. Bringing the benefits of securities lending to a broader base of market participants is important for Citi, and our support of OCBC is a clear demonstration of our strategy in action. By integrating CSLA, we are creating value for OCBC, introducing a significant new pool of untapped securities to the lending market, and expanding Citi’s servicing of private and retail assets in securities lending.”