Review: Singapore and Hong Kong Bank ADRs

Asian banks emerged strong from the credit crisis and are now growing again. Most Asian banks follow conservative policies and have low NPAs. In addition, they tend to concentrate on traditional banking services as opposed to investment banking and trading securities.

Two banks each from Singapore and Hong Kong trading on the OTC markets in the US are listed below:

1.Hang Seng Bank Ltd (OTC:HSNGY)
Hong Kong
Current Dividend Yield: 6.99%

2.Bank of East Asia (OTC: BKEAY)
Hong Kong
Current Dividend Yield: 3.39%

3. United Overseas Bank Ltd (OTC: UOVEY)
Singapore
Current Dividend Yield: 1.96%

4. DBS Bank Ltd (OTC: DBSDY)
Singapore
Current Dividend Yield: 3.84%

Besides having a presence in many international markets, Bank of East Asia operates 70 outlets in China. During the credit crisis, there was a scare that this bank may fail. But that did not materialize and the bank survived. Hang Seng is one of the large banks in Hong Kong with a rich history. Unike many developed countries, Singapore did not have to inject capital into any banks during the crisis and Singaporean banks are some of the strongest financial institutions in the world.United Overseas Bank and DBS are two of the large banks in Singapore. Both are well-capitalized and have operations in many of the emerging markets in Asia. For example, the Tier 1 ratio of DBS Bank is a healthy 13.1%. Investors hunting for growth and yield in Asian bank stocks, may consider the above mentioned four banks.

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