Singapore’s top banker Piyush Gupta leaves DBS Bank, BFSI News, ET BFSI
Singapore‘s prime banker Piyush Gupta has stepped down as DBS Bank chief government after 15 years of spearheading the lender’s journey via numerous financial markets, together with organising of a wholly-owned subsidiary in India. “Piyush Gupta has pushed a complete transformation of DBS over these 15 years. His achievements converse for themselves – the accolades that DBS has acquired through the years, together with recognition by Euromoney in 2016 as the primary financial institution to be named World’s Greatest Digital Financial institution. In 2018, DBS was named the World’s Greatest Financial institution and has acquired the award a number of occasions since then,” stated Temasek Holdings CEO Dilhan Pillay.
Temasek Holdings Limited, a 51-year-old Singaporean state-owned multinational funding group, is a serious shareholder of DBS.
In a press release learn out at DBS’ annual basic assembly (AGM) on March 28, Pillay stated that the partnership between DBS chairman Peter Seah and Gupta created “important worth” for the financial institution, its franchise, its shareholders and the monetary companies sector.
He added that DBS will proceed to be within the good fingers of Seah and Tan, and that Temasek is assured they may “proceed to drive DBS’ relentless deal with excellence for worth to all its stakeholders”.
Meerut-born Gupta, who’s 65 and a naturalised Singapore citizen, is stepping down from a excessive level within the financial institution’s historical past.
South-east Asia’s largest financial institution by belongings reported in February a report efficiency in 2024, with full-year internet income up 11 per cent year-on-year to SGD 11.4 billion.
Since Gupta first took on the position of CEO in November 2009, DBS’ share value has elevated greater than 280 per cent to SGD 46.47 on the shut on March 28.
DBS’ market capitalisation crossed SGD 100 billion in Could 2024, a primary for a Singapore-listed firm, the financial institution stated in its annual report. By year-end, its market worth had risen additional to SDG 124 billion.
Whole shareholder returns for 2024 had been 51 per cent, comprising a share value achieve of 44 per cent and a dividend return of seven per cent. It was the best in DBS’ historical past exterior crisis-rebound years, the financial institution stated.
Gupta famous that increased price revenue helped the financial institution offset the decline in curiosity revenue as rates of interest fell through the yr.
He stated that DBS’ wealth management enterprise was a robust development driver for the financial institution, having benefited from “loads of new cash which got here in”. Property beneath administration grew 17 per cent year-on-year in 2024 to SGD 426 billion.
There have been, nonetheless, some low factors in Gupta’s 15-year profession with the financial institution.
In 2023, for instance, DBS suffered a collection of digital disruptions that led to him receiving a 27 per cent pay reduce for the yr.
In 2024, he was paid SGD 17.6 million, in comparison with SGD 11.2 million after the pay reduce in 2023.
Gupta famous on the AGM that the board took “very severe cognisance” of the financial institution’s know-how outages in 2021 and 2023, and put in measures to strengthen its technological danger administration.
