DBS has appointed Tan Su Shan as the bank’s next chief executive officer who will replace current chief executive officer (CEO) Piyush Gupta on March 28, 2025. In the interim, Tan has become deputy CEO of the bank, in addition to her position as group head of institutional banking.
Ushering in a new era for the bank, Tan (pictured) will become the first female CEO in DBS' history after Gupta’s 15 years in the leadership role, after he took up the position in late 2009 joining from Citi. Tan's appointment was decided following an evaluation of both internal and external candidates. An extended development programme was attended by internal candidates, in which Tan was considered the strongest candidate, according to a company media release.
Headquartered in Singapore, DBS is one of the largest banks in Asia with offices in Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, mainland China, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Vietnam. DBS also has presence in Australia, the UK and the US. The bank provides services to consumers, small-medium enterprises (SME) and corporates.
In her new role, Tan will bring more than 35 years of experience in consumer banking, wealth management and institutional banking. Based in Singapore, Tan has also worked in other financial centres such as Hong Kong, Tokyo and London.
Tan has been with DBS since 2010, starting her career at the bank in its wealth management business before moving on to manage the bank’s consumer banking, wealth management and institutional banking businesses, which make up 90% of DBS’ income. Across these roles, Tan had also helped implement DBS’ digilisation strategy, and since 2014 has been president commissioner of DBS Indonesia.
Tan has also been appointed to several advisory boards and had been nominated as a member of the Singapore parliament from 2012 to 2014.
The announcement came as DBS revealed Q2 2024 net profit up 4% to S$2.8 billion ($2.1 billion) with a return on equity of 18.2%. First-half net profit was up 9% to a record high of S$5.76 billion, driven by "broad-based growth", according to the bank.
For the first half of the 2024 financial year, consumer banking and wealth management revenue increased 18% to S$5.06 billion from higher net interest income, wealth management fees and card fees, partly driven by the consolidation of Citi Taiwan, an acquisition completed in August 2023. Institutional banking income was "stable" at S$4.69 billion as higher loan-related fees, cash management fees and treasury customer income were offset by lower net interest income. Markets trading income was little changed at S$433 million.
The bank had record profits of S$10.3 billion for the 2023 financial year, despite running into regulatory difficulties with the Monetary Authority of Singapore after several outages.
DBS chairman Peter Seah said in a media release, “Under Piyush’s leadership, DBS has been transformed into a high-performing, high-returns institution recognised simultaneously for stability and innovation."
Seah continued: "Tan’s strategic orientation, track record in building businesses, familiarity with technology, leadership ability as well as strong stakeholder management and communication skills make her the ideal successor. Importantly for us, she also embodies the DBS culture. I'm pleased that a Singaporean with global experience has emerged as the best candidate to lead an iconic Singapore institution and build on the legacy that Piyush will leave us.”
Gupta said in the same release, “Tan has worked closely with me for more than a decade to bring the bank to where it is today. She was instrumental in building the wealth management, consumer banking and institutional banking businesses since she joined, and took personal ownership to operationalise our digitalisation strategy. With her appointment, we can be assured that the trajectory of DBS’ transformation will continue well into the future.”
