DBS’s next CEO will be Tan Su Shan, the first woman to lead Southeast Asia’s largest bank
Tan Su Shan will become the first woman CEO in DBS’ history when she assumes the top job come March 2025.
The Singapore-headquartered DBS Group Holding is set to undergo a leadership transition.
Its CEO Piyush Gupta, who has led the bank for 14 years, will retire at the upcoming annual general meeting on March 28, 2025. He will be succeeded by Tan Su Shan according to a statement from the bank on Wednesday. The statement adds that Tan has been appointed deputy CEO, and the new appointment is an addition to her current role as group head of institutional banking.
“Tan, 56, brings solid credentials to her new role, having had more than 35 years of experience in consumer banking, wealth management and institutional banking. Besides Singapore, she has worked in major financial centres such as Hong Kong, Tokyo and London,” the bank said.
The announcement caps years of speculation over who would succeed Gupta, who has been credited with expanding the bank’s presence and multiplying returns for the financial institution.
DBS is Singapore’s biggest bank and is Southeast Asia’s largest bank by assets. The bank ranks #10 on Fortune’s Southeast Asia 500 for 2023 and is the highest ranked bank on the list.
Gupta took over as CEO in 2009, following 27 years at Citigroup, where he served as CEO for Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand.
Under Gupta, DBS expanded its operations in India, Taiwan, and mainland China. The bank has also been recognized for its use of technology under Gupta’s stewardship.
Tan moved to DBS from Morgan Stanley in 2010 after receiving a call from Gupta shortly after he became CEO. Since joining DBS, Tan has been credited with expanding DBS’ consumer banking, wealth management and institutional banking businesses.
Like Gupta, Tan is also a firm believer in the use of technology and DBS said Tan led day-to-day efforts to implement the bank’s digitalization strategy across the businesses she ran.
To encourage the bank’s thousands of employees to use AI, Tan said at the Fortune Brainstorm AI conference in Singapore last week that the “number one” task is getting “everyone to drink the Kool-Aid” with the next step being to encourage employees to be responsible for implementing the new technology.
“Let them own the model. Let them own the feedback loop. Let them own the outcomes,” Tan said.
Her appointment means Tan will become the first woman to lead DBS in the bank’s history, and only the second woman to lead a major bank in Singapore. Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation, Singapore’s second largest bank, appointed Helen Wong in 2021.
