Singapore's UOB completes deal for Citi's Malaysia, Thailand retail banking ops

SINGAPORE, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Citigroup said on Tuesday it had completed the sale of its Malaysia and Thailand retail banking businesses to Singapore's United Overseas Bank (UOB) in a transaction expected to result in a regulatory capital benefit of $1 billion.

UOB said in a separate statement that it expects to complete the acquisition of Citigroup's consumer banking businesses in Indonesia and Vietnam next year.

The consumer banking businesses comprise Citigroup's unsecured and secured lending portfolios, wealth management and retail deposit businesses, UOB said.

This will be UOB's biggest acquisition in two decades and will double its existing retail customer base to 5.3 million in the four Southeast Asian markets, where it already has a substantial presence and competes with larger rivals, including DBS Group and OCBC.

"The acquisition provides us with increased scale and supports our ambition to be the bank of choice for consumers and businesses in ASEAN," Wee Ee Cheong, UOB's deputy chairman and chief executive officer, said. (Reporting by Yantoultra Ngui; Editing by Savio D'Souza)