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DBS names Stanley chief

Development Bank of Singapore (DBS, 星展銀行) Group Holdings Ltd, Southeast Asia's biggest bank by assets, named Citigroup Inc's top China banker as chief executive officer to help speed expansion in the world's fastest growing major economy.

Richard Stanley, 47, starts work on May 1, replacing Jackson Tai, who left DBS at the end of last year after five years at the helm. Chairman Koh Boon Hwee took over daily operations after Tai left.

Stanley's appointment ends months of speculation on a replacement for Tai, whose tenure coincided with a drive to expand overseas as foreign banks increased competition in Singapore. The bank said last month it wanted to reduce dependence on Singapore and Hong Kong by investing elsewhere in Asia.

"One uncertainty has been removed," said David Lum, an analyst at Daiwa Institute of Research Singapore Pte, who has an "outperform" rating on the stock. "They hired someone with emerging markets and China expertise."

DBS, the biggest of Singapore's three banks, saw shares fall 17 percent this year. Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp fell 13 percent and United Overseas Bank Ltd fell 11 percent. The stock rose to S$17.00 (US$12) up S$0.22, or 1.3 percent, after rising as much as 2.4 percent before the announcement.

DBS said Stanley, a US citizen, has built Citigroup's franchise in China for the past eight years.

Stanley "is well-equipped to help DBS Group grow its footprint in emerging markets, especially in the greater China region," DBS said in a statement yesterday to the Singapore exchange.

DBS said on Feb. 1 that it was expanding in Taiwan by taking over the "good bank assets" of Bowa Commercial Bank (寶華銀行) in exchange for a payment by the Taiwanese regulator. The government, which took control of Bowa in August, will pay DBS NT$44.5 billion (US$1.4 billion) for taking over the assets.

The takeover is the first "significant" acquisition since it bought Hong Kong's Dao Heng Bank Group (道亨銀行集團) in 2001. The company paid US$5.4 billion for the fourth-largest bank in Hong Kong and hasn't acquired 100 percent stake in any company since.

DBS said last year its fund management venture in China received a qualified domestic institutional investor license from the nation's securities regulator. The venture with China's Changsheng Fund Management (長盛基金管理公司) will be able to help its clients in the nation invest their funds overseas, the bank said on Oct. 12.

The bank also received permission from China in August to offer local-currency services to Chinese residents after the government ended restrictions on international banks.
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