DBS Bank
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| DBS Bank Limited | |
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| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1968 |
| Headquarters | Singapore |
| Key people | Koh Boon Hwee, Chairman Jackson Tai, CEO & Vice Chairman Frank Wong Kwong Shing, COO & Vice Chairman |
| Industry | Banking |
| Products | Financial Services |
| Operating income |  $4.64 billion SGD (2005) [1] |
| Employees | over 12,000 |
| Slogan | DBS. Living, Breathing Asia |
| 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 (新加坡发展银行), 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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[edit] Core Business Activities
[edit] Personal Banking
DBS has the largest single-bank network in Singapore. DBS enables a comprehensive range of innovative banking services and financial solutions to individuals. Its philosophy is to enhance value at affordable cost to cover customer's needs through their lives. Products and services within the Personal Banking include credit cards, loans, investment & unit trusts, insurance and priority banking. With the introduction of Insurance Specialists to target the priority banking customers, the Bank has gone an extra mile in incorporating specialized wealth management products.
[edit] Enterprise Banking
Enterprise Banking is committed to supporting and incubating Singapore businesses, evolving beyond basic financing to providing business solutions to help entrepreneurs in building their businesses, protecting assets and unlocking wealth. DBS enables an entire range of financial products and services to assist local business in their growth nationally as well as in their expansion overseas. These include loan facilities, fixed asset financing, trade financing, cash management services, accounts receivable purchase facility and hire purchase loans, business protection products such as treasury and insurance instruments, as well as government financial assistance schemes. Enterprise Banking customers enjoy convenient and efficient service, facilitated by our personalised relationship managers, the network of branches, and numerous self-service banking channels including the corporate electronic banking platform 'IDEAL' which is accessible anytime, anywhere.
[edit] Corporate Banking
The Corporate Banking has been formed to advance the bank's corporate finance activities in Singapore and the Asian region. Its objective is on being a professional merchant bank that is dedicated to providing first class capabilities across products for the corporate and institutional customers.
[edit] Private Banking
DBS Private Banking delivers customers a one-stop full-service touch-point for total banking requirements and offers the highest level of personalised banking with DBS.
[edit] Treasury & Markets
DBS is the leader in treasury operations. DBS enables a huge range of capabilities in foreign exchange and derivatives, money market and securities trading, to corporations and financial institutions. DBS trades in a comprehensive product range, this include foreign exchange interest rates and derivatives. Treasury & Markets offers total solutions to meet DBS clients' hedging and investment needs with a regional focus. They are a leader in SGD and regional products with an excellent, customer-driven research capability and with cutting edge risk management technology and systems.
[edit] Local Subsidiaries
[edit] DBS Asset Management
DBS Asset Management Ltd (DBSAM) is a wholly owned subsidiary of DBS Bank. Founded in 1990, DBSAM is a leading fund management business, managing one of the largest stables of unit trust funds in Singapore. Today, DBSAM is one of the largest and most experienced asset management companies in Singapore and South East Asia, managing about S$10.5 billion in assets for retail, private investors and institutions.
[edit] DBS Vickers Securities
DBS Vickers Securities is the securities unit of the DBS Group. DBS Vickers Securities Singapore is a member of the Singapore Exchange and is a leading securities houses. The DBS Vickers Securities Group has full stock broking licenses in Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Thailand as well as offices in Malaysia, Shenzhen, New York and London.
[edit] Acquisition of POSBank
In 1998, DBS Bank merged with POSBank, giving it a dominant market share with over 4 million customers.
(to be expanded)
[edit] Shareholders
The twenty 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%
- United Overseas Bank Nominees Pte Ltd: 46,946,902, 3.13%
- Morgan Stanley Asia (Singapore) Securities Pte Ltd: 18,175,198, 1.21%
- DB Nominees (S) Pte Ltd: 14,263,221, 0.95%
- Lee Pineapple Company Pte Ltd: 8,750,000, 0.58%
- Dexia Nominees (S) Pte Ltd: 5,546,564, 0.37%
- DBS Vickers Securities (S) Pte Ltd: 4,625,237, 0.31%
- Merrill Lynch (Singapore) Pte Ltd: 2,808,808, 0.19%
- KEP Holdings Limited: 2,500,000, 0.17%
- Macquarie Securities (S) Pte Ltd: 2,403,275, 0.16%
- Societe Generale Singapore Branch: 2,378,321, 0.16%
- Oversea Chinese Bank Nominees Pte Ltd: 2,321,926, 0.15%
- Eng Hueng Fook Henry: 2,224,965, 0.15%
- Western Properties Pte Ltd: 2,184,000, 0.15%
- UOB Kay Hian Pte Ltd: 2,056,546, 0.14%
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.
[edit] International Operations
DBS has branches and offices in China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States.
[edit] 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.
In 2nd October, 2004 83 safe deposit boxes in DBS Bank (HK) Mei Foo Branch were removed to scrapyard and destroyed when renovation of the branch office. Most of the boxes were compressed, with 51 clients affected. It was the first time such kind of incident happened in Hong Kong and aroused concerns on the responsibility of banks. DBS Bank Investigation on the incident
[edit] China
On September 28, 2005 it was reported that DBS is to take a 4.1 per cent stake of Huaxia Bank with DBS asking for a seat on the board. Meanwhile, Deutsche Bank has reached a fundamental consensus with Huaxia Bank on advisory support and business cooperation and it will be one of Huaxia's top three shareholders, if everything runs smoothly. The German bank initially showed strong interest in China's market, but it lost a bid to buy into the Bank of Beijing in March 2005 to Dutch rival ING and the World Bank's International Finance Corp. However, it was chosen to be the financial consultant for Guangdong Development Bank (GDB), also a target for foreign strategic investors. Deutsche Bank signed an initial agreement with Huaxia Bank last Wednesday, leading to a US$330 million purchase of a 14 per cent stake of Huaxia Bank. Deutsche Bank and Sal. Oppenheimjr. & Cie, a leading private bank based in Germany would buy 587 million shares in the second smallest of five domestically listed lenders, paying about 4.50 yuan (56 US cents) a share. Singapore-based Pangaea Capital Management Co got 6.9 per cent of Huaxia shares at the cost of some 1 billion yuan (US$123 million) through a public bidding, according to Huaxia's statement on Monday. If this stake transformation receives the go ahead from the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC), Pangaea will be the fourth largest shareholder of Huaxia.
The Beijing-based lender said in April that it plans to sell a 25 per cent stake; and disclosed that it was in talks with BNP Paribas SA, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc and DBS Group Holdings Ltd as well as Deutsche Bank and Societe Generale. As one of the listed joint-stock banks, Huaxia has total assets of 320 billion yuan (US$39.5 billion). In the first half, income from its core business topped 6.4 billion yuan (US$790 million), up 28.04 per cent on a yearly basis. Net profit rose 19.07 per cent, hitting 640 million yuan (US$79 million).
[edit] 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 sophesticated 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 percent 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 prevent 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-percent cap on foreign ownership, with a single overseas owner limited to 20 percent. 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 U.S. buyout firm Newbridge Capital bought 17.89 percent 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 percent at the end of 2003 worse than an average of more than 10 percent nationwide. Capital adequacy ratio stood at 3.87 percent in the same period, far below the 8 percent required.
If foreigners owned more than 25 percent 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] External link
- Development Bank of Singapore (DBS) Official site
