Wee Ee Cheong, chief executive of UOB, told an earnings briefing that the bank is open to mergers and acquisitions in asset management.

"As an organisation, our capital is strong so we should take advantage of that," he said.

UOB's core tier one capital is 12.3 percent, well above the minimum required by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

UOB was named by sources as among the groups that had put in bids for ING's Asia asset management arm in a deal that could be worth up to $500 million.