Strategy & Practice Management

DBS Announces Senior-Level Appointments, Grooms Talent From Within

Underscoring its commitment to grooming talent from within, DBS Group Holdings today announced several senior-level organisational appointments that will take effect over the course of the next few months.

 Shee Tse Koon, presently DBS’ Group Head of Strategy and Planning, will take over as Singapore Country Head from 1 December 2018. 

 Sim S. Lim, presently DBS’ Singapore Country Head, will succeed Tan Su Shan as Group Head of Consumer Banking (CBG) & Wealth Management from 1 January 2019

 Tan Su Shan, presently Group Head of Consumer Banking & Wealth Management, will succeed Jeanette Wong as Group Head of Institutional Banking (IBG) from 1 February 2019.  This is to allow for a smooth transition ahead of Wong’s plans to retire on 1 March 2019.

Wong served as Chief Financial Officer from 2003 to 2008. In 2008, she moved on to her current role as Group Head of IBG. Under her leadership, DBS has built one of the most successful corporate and institutional franchises in the region, most evident in the results of the annual Greenwich surveys. Over the years, DBS’ Global Transaction Banking and SME businesses have also grown from strength to strength. In 2018, DBS was named Global SME Bank of the Year by International Finance Corporation, part of the World Bank Group. In a survey by Euromoney, DBS also came in No. 1 for customer satisfaction in the world of cash management – globally.

Tan joined DBS in June 2010 as Group Head of Wealth Management, before taking on an expanded portfolio which also comprised oversight of Consumer Banking. While she is best known for her outstanding leadership in private banking, in the course of her career, she has also had stints in investment banking and institutional sales. In her new role, some of her focus areas will include strengthening CBG, Private Banking & IBG connectivity, enabling DBS to further solidify its “one-bank” customer proposition. She will also continue to drive IBG’s digital agenda and focus in customer experience.

Lim, a 35-year banking veteran, joined DBS in September 2010 as Country Head, DBS Singapore, a then newly-created role. Over the years, he has built a robust country management team and process for Singapore, and helped provide direction for DBS Vickers, as well as the bank’s operations in Japan and Thailand. During this period, he has also gained good experience in the consumer and payments space, which will serve him well in his new role.

Shee brings with him almost 25 years of banking experience, and including 22 years at Standard Chartered Bank, which spanned front and back office roles, and included stints in Asia, the Middle East and Europe. Prior to joining DBS in September 2016, he was Country Head of Standard Chartered Indonesia. As Group Head of Strategy and Planning in DBS, he has been key in helping to flesh out the bank’s strategies for SME as well as growth markets, and in building out its ecosystems agenda.

Said DBS CEO Piyush Gupta, “Jeanette first began discussing with me the prospect of stepping down a few years ago. I was able to persuade her to stay on as I firmly believed that the bank needed her leadership to guide us on a critical part of our journey. Although there is no perfect time, with the IBG’s stellar accomplishments, I believe that this is an appropriate juncture to finally accede to Jeanette’s request to step down, pursue her other passions and smell the roses.”

“This will also enable us to continue to provide more development opportunities to our senior team and further deepen our bench strength. Sim, Su Shan and Tse Koon have proven to be very capable leaders, and I have no doubt that they will continue to excel in their new roles and take the business to greater heights.”