How This Indian-Origin CEO Has Created A Succession Dilemma At Singapore's Largest Bank

For more than 13 years, India-born Piyush Gupta has led one of Singapore¡¯s most iconic and biggest institutions. The 63-year-old Gupta is the CEO of DBS Bank, which has played a key role in turning Singapore into one of the richest countries in the world.

Succession Dilemma At Singapore¡¯s Largest Bank

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In his time as CEO at DBS Group Holdings Ltd., Gupta has built and turned the lender into Singapore¡¯s largest listed company, moved early into wealth management and other key business areas, and delivered equity returns that outstrip global peers.

Now, that very success is creating an elephant in the room. At conferences, shareholder meetings, and town halls, people who watch the bank closely are quietly asking the same questions: Who¡¯s going to replace the 63-year-old executive when his long stint ends? When will that happen? And will they be able to emulate his run? Even after a recent series of online banking disruptions angered retail customers, industry observers say Gupta¡¯s record is intact, and the bank¡¯s biggest challenge is finding his successor.

"These issues should have no bearing on Piyush¡¯s legacy, nor are they unique to DBS," said Vikram Pandit, who was CEO of Citigroup from 2007 to 2012 and overlapped with Gupta at the US bank. "It¡¯s always hard to imagine how a new leader can step into the shoes of a highly successful predecessor," he said, as per a Bloomberg report. "But great CEOs and institutions have well-defined succession plans."

It¡¯s a textbook example of the phenomenon known as key-person risk, a reminder that companies must be ready for when a longtime chief departs. And there¡¯s much more at stake than just the share price: DBS is so integral to Singapore that how it solves the puzzle matters to the city-state as a whole.

The 63-year-old Gupta is in many ways the Jamie Dimon of Singapore, the highest-profile banker leading the country¡¯s largest lender and surrounded by succession speculation, as per the report. For the unversed, Dimon is the CEO of the US's biggest bank, JP Morgan Chase.

DBS¡¯ Steps Towards Succession Despite Refusal Of Rumours

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While DBS reportedly says that its CEO, Gupta, isn¡¯t going anywhere, the bank has been making moves that some see as precursors to eventually passing the baton.

In February, DBS unveiled a major leadership reorganisation, ensuring the four people earmarked as internal candidates for the top post hold some of the most important jobs.

Shee Tse Koon, the then Singapore country head, took over consumer banking and wealth management, the No. 2 revenue generator. Han Kwee Juan, who Gupta hired from Citi in 2019, moved into Shee¡¯s old role. Lim Him Chuan, 54, the longest-serving of the four, relocated to Singapore to replace Han as group head of strategy and planning. The fourth and only woman, Tan Su Shan, kept her position running institutional banking, DBS¡¯s crown jewel.

55-year-old Tan is credited with expanding the consumer and wealth business, which accounted for about a third of pretax profit by the time she moved to her current job in 2019. Shee, 53, spent more than two decades at Standard Chartered in London, Dubai, and as CEO for Indonesia.

Han, also 55, worked at Citi for 27 years, running businesses including treasury and markets, corporate and investment banking, and cash management. And Lim previously ran the Taiwan unit for almost five years while also holding roles in areas including institutional banking.

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"No Clear Favourite To Replace Him"

People familiar with the matter say there¡¯s no clear favourite to inherit Gupta¡¯s 45th-floor office at the Marina Bay Financial Centre, the bank¡¯s headquarters overlooking Singapore¡¯s waterfront. Hiring an outsider also can¡¯t be ruled out, the people said, as per the report.

DBS has been preparing for Gupta¡¯s succession for about 10 years, according to a person familiar with the matter. The bank is looking for someone who can do things differently going into the next decade as technologies such as artificial intelligence increase in importance, the person said, asking not to be identified while discussing confidential information.

¡°DBS has deep bench strength and is committed to grooming talent from within,¡± said Karen Ngui, a spokeswoman for the bank. The February reshuffle ¡°testifies to that,¡± she said. ¡°At present, Piyush has no plans to retire, and any speculation on potential CEO candidates is thus premature.¡±

Gupta¡¯s Early Days As CEO Of DBS

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When Gupta joined as CEO in November 2009, things weren¡¯t going so well for DBS. His predecessor, Richard Stanley, had died of leukemia 11 months into the job. Under Jackson Tai, the chief before Stanley, the bank had suffered losses on collateralized debt obligations, along with its Singapore peers.

India-born Piyush Gupta, who had spent 27 years at Citi and is known for having hands-on experience in many parts of the industry, quickly made changes.

One early decision was to beef up transaction banking, a combination of cash management and trade finance that Gupta knew well from his time at Citi. Another was to strengthen wealth management, including through the 2014 acquisition of Societe Generale SA¡¯s Asian private banking arm. The strategy both foresaw and accelerated Singapore¡¯s development as a wealth management hub, the Switzerland of Southeast Asia. In both categories, Gupta built DBS from a low base into a major player in Asia. Both, in turn, strengthened DBS¡¯s advantage at home.

Gupta, a charismatic figure who became a Singapore citizen in 2009, also started to focus more on technology. This included hiring more engineers and building the bank¡¯s digital offerings. DBS has been investing about S$1 billion ($739 million) annually in technology over the past decade in areas such as cloud computing and artificial intelligence.

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DBS' Growth Under CEO Gupta

As per a Bloomberg report, DBS stock has gained 141% since the start of November 2009, the month in which Gupta became CEO, compared with a 21% increase for Singapore¡¯s benchmark Straits Times Index. It trades at 1.4 times book value, versus 1.1 times for Overseas-Chinese Banking Corp. and 1 time for United Overseas Bank Ltd., its two local peers. It became Singapore¡¯s largest listed stock in 2017, overtaking Singtel, and its market value is now about S$81 billion.

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