PwC Singapore announces Executive Chairman Elect

Singapore, 30 April 2021 --PwC Singapore has today announced that Marcus Lam will succeed Yeoh Oon Jin, the current Executive Chairman of PwC Singapore, on 1 July 2021. Oon Jin will retire on 30 June 2021 after an outstanding 38-year career with PwC.

During his eight plus years as Executive Chairman, Oon Jin has driven significant transformation across PwC Singapore whilst focusing on our core of building trust and transparency. Within the first year of taking over, he strengthened PwC’s consulting capabilities through the set up of a joint venture comprising PwC Consulting practices in South East Asia (Indonesia, Myanmar, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia) in 2013 which was subsequently merged with the PwC Consulting practices in Australia and New Zealand in 2016. This considerably enhanced PwC’s position as a leading professional services firm and gave PwC clients access to an integrated consulting services network and specialist consultants across the region. In 2015, Oon Jin followed up with the creation of PwC Corporate Finance South East Asia joint venture to pursue Corporate Finance opportunities in SEA.

Under his leadership, the firm grew from strength to strength; staff strength increased from 2,300 to 3,500 and the number of Partners increased from 100 to 150 in Singapore.

Being a true believer of the power of digital and data, Oon Jin championed the firm’s digital transformation journey, placing a huge focus on upskilling all of our 3500 people together with the enhancement and adoption of digital tools. One of the most significant enablers for the transformation was the move to a digitally-enabled new office premise at Marina One which encourages and supports new ways of working through digital innovation and collaboration.

This change was pivotal and timely as it prepared the firm to quickly adapt to COVID-19 disruptions permitting all of our staff to work from home seamlessly. Oon Jin was also instrumental in challenging the firm to role-model our own transformation to help our clients stay competitive through enhanced digital services and experience that we have developed to bring new ideas and innovations to life in the Singapore market.

During his tenure, he also placed tremendous focus on building the right culture and values as well as focussing on the wellbeing of our people especially during the pandemic. Under his leadership, PwC Singapore introduced a suite of flex policies and initiatives which empowered our staff with flexible work location, flex working hours, flex work attire and flex benefits.

Oon Jin also valued giving back to the community. In April 2019, the firm launched the PwC Singapore Foundation which supports three main causes - the elderly, disability and education.

Yeoh Oon Jin, Executive Chairman, PwC Singapore said:

“When I first began my Chairmanship, it was clear to me that our success as a firm would depend very much on developing our people. Over the years, while the spotlight has turned to digital and technology, I have always believed that our people remain the most critical success factor as well as our most valuable asset. Our collective success as a firm is reflective of each and every one of our people’s commitment to upskilling and adapting to new ways of working - and I am immensely proud of what we have achieved together.

“I am pleased that the PwC Singapore partners have elected Marcus Lam to take over the leadership of the firm. Marcus’s strong sense of purpose and values, strategic leadership and business insight will go a long way in steering the firm to greater heights. I am confident that his leadership and vision will help safely navigate the firm through the short term uncertainties arising from the pandemic to a brighter future and bring our best ideas and innovative solutions to our clients and the market.”

Marcus has led PwC Singapore’s Assurance Practice as Assurance Leader since 1 July 2017. During his tenure, the firm focused on enhancing audit quality, increasing technological enablement and developing deeper capabilities to help clients address their digital and data risks. Under Marcus’s leadership, the Assurance Practice has grown in strength as it continues to find new ways to effectively deliver services and solutions to clients amid unprecedented times.

Marcus has over 20 years of professional experience providing audit and advisory services to listed companies, multinational corporations and government agencies across different industries and sectors in Singapore. He has also been on PwC Singapore’s leadership team since 1 January 2016.

Outside of PwC, Marcus is active in contributing to the development of the accounting profession. He is a council member of the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants and is a board member of the Accounting Standard Council Singapore. Passionate about education and giving back to the community, he also serves as the Deputy Chairman of the Singapore Polytechnic Board of Governors, the Chairman of the Edusave Advisory Council under the Ministry of Education, and the Vice President of the Parkinson Society of Singapore.

Marcus Lam, Executive Chairman Elect, PwC Singapore said:

"On behalf of my fellow partners and the firm, I would like to extend heartfelt thanks to Oon Jin for his commitment and leadership of PwC Singapore. On a more personal note, he has shown and guided me on the right path to leadership. Throughout his career, and especially during his Chairmanship, Oon Jin has been a shining example of walking the talk as a principled leader and a true embodiment of PwC’s Values. These are big shoes to fill and I am both humbled and honoured to be given the trust and opportunity to succeed Oon Jin. I am excited for what is to come.”