 The bank went public in 1970, and Wee was appointed vice-chairman a year later.In June 1971, UOB acquired 49.8% of the Chung Khiaw Bank, and Wee made the newspaper headlines for sealing the deal for a bank that at the time had a larger asset base and a larger network of branches.The S$22 million deal saw UOB beat more than six rivals to the deal and doubled UOB's size, creating the second largest banking group in Singapore and Malaysia.