• Lee has been seen as the second-in-command to the CEO

• UOB names Leong Yung Chee as new CFO, effective April 22

Lee Wai Fai

United Overseas Bank Ltd.’s Chief Financial Officer Lee Wai Fai is set to step down next year after two decades in the role.

Lee, 64, has held the position at Southeast Asia’s third-largest lender since 2005. Leong Yung Chee, the 51-year-old group corporate banking head, will take the role on April 22, UOB said in a statement Friday.

The appointment of Leong portends a change of guard at the bank controlled by the billionaire Wee family. He will become the youngest member of the firm’s top seven-member management executive committee led by Chief Executive Officer Wee Ee Cheong, 71.

“We are refreshing our senior management team to ensure leadership continuity and to drive progressive growth,” Wee said in the statement, in which he also thanked Lee.

Leong’s “extensive experience will position him well to align our financial strategy with business transformation and innovation,” Wee said.

Lee, who joined UOB in 1989, has been seen as the second-in-command to CEO Wee. Jovial and eloquent, he usually fields questions from investors, analysts and reporters at major briefings. Lee will stay on to oversee the corporate real estate and services function and UOB Asset Management.

Leong joined UOB in 2016 after five years at Macquarie Group, where he was the Australian bank’s Singapore country head as well as CEO of Macquarie Capital Singapore. The Singaporean previously worked at Credit Suisse and Merrill Lynch and netted 26 years in financial services.

UOB also appointed Edmund Leong as the new head of group corporate banking effective April 22. The new role is on top of his current role as investment banking head.