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| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1968 |
| Headquarters | Singapore |
| Key people | Koh Boon Hwee, Chairman Piyush Gupta, CEO |
| Industry | Banking |
| Products | Financial Services |
| Operating income | ▲ $6031 million SGD (2008) [1] |
| Employees | over 14,000 |
| Website | www.dbs.com |
DBS Bank Limited SGX: D05 (simplified Chinese: 星展银行有限公司; pinyin: Xīngzhǎn Yínháng Yǒuxìan Gōngsī) is a bank incorporated in Singapore. It was previously known as The Development Bank of Singapore Limited, before the present name was adopted in July 2003 to reflect its changing role as a regional bank.
The bank was set up in 1968 as a development-financing institution led by the Singapore government. Today, its branches numbering more than 100 can be found island-wide. DBS Bank is the largest bank in South East Asia by assets and among the larger banks in Asia. It has market-dominant positions in consumer banking, treasury and markets, asset management, securities brokerage, equity and debt fund-raising in Singapore and Hong Kong.
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Acquisition of POSBank
In 1998, DBS Bank merged with POSBank, giving it a dominant market share with over four million customers.
(to be expanded)
The largest shareholders as of 10 February 2006 are:
- DBS Nominees Pte Ltd: 357,492,056, 23.86%
- Raffles Nominees Pte Ltd: 263,390,352, 17.58%
- Maju Holdings Pte Ltd: 234,497,040, 15.65%
- Temasek Holdings (Pte) Ltd: 185,673,795, 12.39%
- Citibank Nominees Singapore Pte Ltd: 110,584,014, 7.38%
- HSBC (Singapore) Nominees Pte Ltd: 107,052,860, 7.14%
Temasek Holdings (Pte) Ltd, a company wholly owned by Minister for Finance (Incorporated), is deemed interested in the 234,497,040 shares held by Maju Holdings Pte Ltd, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Temasek Holdings (Pte) Ltd.
International Operations
DBS has branches and offices in China, Dubai, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, United Kingdom and United States.
Hong Kong
DBS is currently the fifth largest bank in Hong Kong.
China
DBS has six branches and five sub-branches in China. There are located across the country in Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Suzhou, Fuzhou, Hangzhou, Tianjin and Dongguan. In December 2006, DBS Bank received approval from the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) to prepare for local incorporation in China. DBS is the only Singapore bank among nine foreign banks to receive this approval.
Taiwan
In May 2008, DBS integrated Taiwan's Bowa Bank into its operations after acquiring the "good bank assets" in February. There are 40 distribution outlets across the country, half of which are based in Taipei.
India
As of March 2009, DBS has ten branches in India, located at cities like Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi. DBS India also has a 37.5% stake in DBS Cholamandalam Finance, a non-bank financial institution.
Indonesia
DBS has a 99%-owned subsidiary, PT Bank DBS Indonesia, with 39 branches and sub-branches in 11 cities.
History of DBS in Hong Kong
DBS started its operations in Hong Kong in 1999 by acquiring Kwong On Bank from Japanese-based Fuji Bank, and renamed it as DBS Kwong On Bank. It acquired Dao Heng Bank (and its subsidiary Overseas Trust Bank) in 2001. The three banks were later merged under the trading name of DBS.
The Islamic Bank of Asia
Events in 2005
DBS Bank has expanded its operations in India. Chennai has been a high priority for DBS but at this time, has concentrated on a merger with the sophisticated CIPL, an investment-brokerage firm based there. It is getting into investment-banking services, opened its second branch and doubling its number of employees, following a capital infusion of $105 million in 2004. The bank obtained a license from the Reserve Bank of India for a branch in New Delhi. The bank plans to open the branch in the July-September 2005 quarter and has plans to recruit about 20 staff members to man the operations. The total headcount for DBS in India will double to over 120 by the end of the year from 62 at present. Presently its only other branch is in Mumbai.
On August 16, 2005, it was reported that DBS was interested in buying a stake in Guangdong Development Bank. Guangdong Development Bank will try to remain a locally-run lender. Media reports indicated regulators were considering allowing the second-largest bank in booming Guangdong province to sell more than 25 per cent or even up to half of itself to foreigners, dropping a restriction on foreign ownership designed to ensure lenders remain controlled by Chinese.
Guangdong Bank, widely regarded as one of the most financially shaky of the country's commercial lenders, intends to remain a locally-controlled player, which provides broader operational leeway than it would enjoy if a foreign firm owned a majority, the executive said. "No matter what, we don't want to change our status to a joint venture bank," he added on condition of anonymity.
Beijing is trying to attract foreign capital and expertise into a notoriously-clubby banking sector saddled with $200 billion in bad debt. Many potential foreign investors have held back because of the ownership restriction that prevents them from gaining adequate control. "It's possible that we will sell nearly 50 percent in total to investors both from home and abroad," said a source close to the bank's shareholders who is familiar with the restructuring effort. "But it's not possible to sell over 25 percent to foreign investors," added the Guangzhou-based source.
Foreign players are scrambling to stake out footholds in a market with $1.5 trillion in personal savings ahead of near-full liberalisation in 2007. They have lobbied hard for Beijing to drop its 25-per-cent cap on foreign ownership, with a single overseas owner limited to 20 per cent. Also, no overseas firm now controls more than three seats on a bank's board, which often have over a dozen members.
Beijing is reluctant to loosen its grip on the important financial system. Banks in the free-wheeling southern province of Guangdong have taken the lead in reform in the past. In late 2004, Shenzhen Development Bank became the first lender to be controlled by a foreign firm, when US buyout firm Newbridge Capital bought 17.89 per cent for about $150 million, laying its hands on the bank's single largest stake. Sources close to Guangdong Bank's top management said it was unlikely incumbent executives would cede power to foreigners.
In July, industry sources told Reuters that as many as four local and foreign firms; Dutch giant ING , Singapore's DBS , as well as China's Ping An Insurance and Dalian Shide Group were trying to buy into the bank. "We're still contacting different potential foreign buyers," said the first executive, who added that the situation would be clearer by October, when the lender might launch a private placement of additional shares, ahead of an overseas listing. Another source familiar with the situation said on Tuesday that auditing work had been delayed for unspecified reasons, but could be finished by September. "So far, neither a foreign partner nor any percentage of the stakes we plan to sell has been decided," said the first executive, who sits on the bank's board. Guangdong Bank's non-performing loan ratio stood at 22.84 per cent at the end of 2003, worse than an average of more than 10 per cent nationwide. Capital adequacy ratio stood at 3.87 per cent in the same period, far below the 8 per cent required.
If foreigners owned more than 25 per cent of a bank, the current limit it would no longer be regarded as a local bank but a foreign joint venture, meaning it would face a range of restrictions - higher capital requirements and difficulties in setting up branches, among others. Another executive at Guangdong bank's headquarters said negotiations with foreign investors were now steered by representatives from Beijing's central bank as well as the Guangdong provincial government.
DBS iB Secure Device and Internet Banking
Starting in late 2006, the bank began releasing to its Internet banking customers a Dual Factor Authentication device to assist in thwarting phishing attacks. The DBS iB Secure Device is a hardware dongle that generates a random number that is unique to each log-on name. The random number is a one use private key that times out after approximately one minute. The institution Code for DBS is 7171
External links
- Development Bank of Singapore (DBS) Official site
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