DBS Bank Streamlines Banking Operations
* * *
Former Chairman & CEO of Ford Motor Credit Joins DBS To Lead New Personal Banking Group
* * *
New Investment Banking Group Formed To Drive Corporate Banking Relationships In Region
SINGAPORE, MAY 11 - DBS Bank said today it is re-organising its two main banking businesses to focus them more effectively on customers in Singapore and the region.
On the retail banking side, a new Personal Banking Group is being established, comprising DBS' Individual Banking, Enterprise Banking (SME banking services), Private Banking, Asset Management and Insurance operations.
In a related move, a new Investment Banking Group comprising DBS' Capital Markets and Institutional Banking operations will be established to spearhead DBS' corporate finance activities in the region. Jackson Tai, Chief Financial Officer at DBS, will head the new Investment Banking Group.
The consolidation of corporate banking operations will extend DBS' ability to deliver a full range of services to corporate clients, including its leading capital markets expertise, advisory services and private equity capabilities. The goal is to provide corporate banking clients with broader and deeper access to both domestic and international financial markets.
The establishment of the Personal Banking Group follows a year of work during which DBS has concentrated on better identifying and segmenting its personal banking customers, building and co-ordinating business plans to focus on these key customer segments and integrating its product and service platforms to serve them regionally.
Philippe Paillart will head the new Personal Banking Group, and has been appointed a Senior Managing Director of DBS Bank effective July 1.
Most recently, Paillart served as Chairman, President and CEO of Ford Motor Credit Company and President of Ford Financial Services Group. Ford Motor Credit is the largest automotive finance organisation in the world, with a receivables base of more than US$140 billion.
Prior to joining Ford, Paillart served for five years with Standard Chartered Bank and eight years with Citibank in senior positions in Asia, Europe and Africa. He headed Standard Chartered's Personal Banking operation out of Hong Kong from 1993-1994, and from 1994-1995 was Group General Manager for Personal Banking in Singapore. He was appointed Standard Chartered's Group Executive for Singapore and London in 1995.
Under the new structure, Tai will retain his responsibilities as CFO, and he and Paillart will join Chairman S. Dhanabalan, CEO John Olds and President Ng Kee Choe as members of DBS' Corporate Office.
With the re-organisation, DBS has aligned its operations into four main groups: Personal Banking, Investment Banking, Treasury & Markets, and Logistics. Treasury & Markets is headed by Frank K.S. Wong, and Logistics by Senior Managing Director Soh Kim Soon. Reflecting the importance of Treasury & Markets' contribution to DBS' regional strategy, Wong has been promoted to Senior Managing Director.
The four Groups will report to the Corporate Office, as will key staff functions including Administration, Audit, Human Resources and Corporate Relations. Risk Management, headed by Oon Kum Loon and formerly part of the Logistics Group, will also now report directly to the Corporate Office.
DBS said it is also expanding its Policy Committee to reflect the perspective of a broader, more diverse senior management team. The committee is a Bank-wide forum of senior business leaders which reviews business strategy, plans and key corporate operating decisions.
Current members of the committee include S. Dhanabalan, Chairman; John Olds, Vice Chairman and CEO; Ng Kee Choe, President; Jackson Tai, Chief Financial Officer; Senior Managing Directors Soh Kim Soon and Frank Wong; and Managing Directors Eric Ang of Capital Markets and Chong Kie Cheong, head of DBS' Regional Integration Centre.
New members of the committee are all Managing Directors. They include Oon Kum Loon, Risk Management; Elsie Foh, Individual Banking; Greg Seow, Asset Management; Seck Wai Kwong, Institutional Banking; Hong Tuck Kun, Enterprise Banking (SMEs); David Lau, Treasury & Markets; and Yee Jee Hong, Information Technology Group.
John T. Olds, DBS' CEO, said the changes were part of a continuing plan to deepen the senior management team and focus on the Bank's customers.
"Organising our businesses along as few lines as possible, one serving individual customers and another serving the needs of corporate customers, is a better way to deliver our products and services. It is also the way to prepare for the transition to electronic delivery, and plan for orderly management succession.
"Those who lead the charge here, particularly at the senior management level, are experienced international bankers, and we expect that experience to pay dividends as our regional footprint grows and our business process migrates to other regional centres.
"As we extend DBS' presence in Asian markets, broaden our offering and improve service, we think it is critical to operate as an integrated bank. To us, this means maintaining customer focus, a high level of co-ordination across all disciplines and open and active communication throughout the organisation. These are all prerequisites to DBS' success, and we believe this organisational model is a better way to make this happen." said Olds.
DBS Bank is the flagship bank in Singapore of DBS Group Holdings, and is a recognised leader in Internet banking and e-commerce, and the market leader in Singapore's debt and equity capital markets and Singapore-dollar loans and deposits. Beyond Singapore, the DBS Group services corporate, institutional and retail customers through subsidiaries in Hong Kong, The Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand, and international banking services through a network of overseas branches and offices. DBS Bank is ranked 70th among the world's banking institutions and DBS Group Holdings among the world's top 300 firms in market capitalisation.
PHILIPPE PAILLART Senior Managing Director Personal Banking Group DBS Bank
Prior to his appointment at DBS Bank in May, 2000, Philippe Paillart was Chairman, President and CEO of the Ford Motor Credit Company, and President of the Ford Financial Services Group, responsible for Ford's finance subsidiaries, with assets worth $160 billion.
From 1993-98, Paillart was with Standard Chartered Bank, based in Singapore, Hong Kong and London. As Head of Personal Banking for Standard Chartered's North East Asia office, he implemented Service Quality and HR development programmes and directed North East Asia' s Retail Banking and Cards activities, which saw a profit increase of 78%. Paillart moved on to become Group General Manager for the Personal Banking division between 1994-95, enlarging his portfolio to include India and Europe, with responsibility for retail business in Africa and Middle East as well. He was then appointed as Group Executive Director, directing all retail activities in the institution and recording a 41% record growth during his tenure. He was also part of Standard Chartered's Main Board of Directors.
Earlier, Paillart served as General Manager of International Personal Banking for Citibank, where he created and developed new and profitable international banking business operations in all major European countries, the Middle East and Africa. From 1984-86, he served in London as Director, Strategic Planning and Marketing, Diners Club International, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and was a Member of the Board of Diners Club France.
From 1975-84, Paillart was with Renault Group, first as Chief Economist and later as a Member of the Group Strategic Planning Committee, taking charge of economic analysis and forecast for the various entities of the Renault Group. In 1978, he was appointed Director of Marketing for Renault USA, and then as Director of the Marketing Group that included Renault, American Motors and Jeep Corporation based in Detroit.
Paillart is a Founding and active member of the Institutional Retail Banking Council and the International Cards Council. He is also a board member of the Financial Services Council, the Detroit Investment Fund, the Coalition of Service Industries and the Financial Services Roundtable. He is also Member of the European Movement, American Marketing Association and various business clubs, and a participant in the World Economic Forum, DAVOS.
He holds a degree in Law and an MBA from Ecole Superieure de Commerce de Paris, and was awarded a PhD. in Economy in 1976 from Paris I-Pantheon. In 1983, he received a postgraduate degree from Harvard Business School.
|