DBS Continues Big Executive Moves, Names Hong Kong CEO

Vanessa Doctor

17 August 2010

DBS Group Holdings has announced that veteran banker Sebastian Paredes will be the new chief executive officer of DBS Hong Kong effective 13 September, adding to a number of senior moves made by the Asian banking giant in recent weeks.

Paredes has been in the banking industry for 25 years and most recently served as president and director at PT Bank Daramaon in Indonesia. Prior to that, he spent 20 years at Citi, with stints in South America, Middle East, Asia, Africa, and Europe. At DBS, he will take over from Amy Yip, who has announced her retirement by the end of 2010.

In addition to his appointment, the bank also noted the creation of a new Singapore country manager role, which will be filled by Sim S Lim starting 1 September. Sim was the president and CEO of Citigroup Global Markets Japan until December 2009. In a statement, the bank said that the creation of the position is in line with moves to establish an organisational structure and framework that will enable the bank to provide clients with a seamless customer experience across the region.

"Our ambition is to be a leading Asian Bank with a strong presence in the region’s three key axes of growth – South East Asia, South Asia and Greater China. As the bank expands its footprint, it is important to adopt a more balanced pan-regional perspective at the group level, while at the same time, recognising the importance of each of our markets," Piyush Gupta, the firm's CEO, said.

DBS has been making major appointments to build on its Asian franchise over the past months. Just last month, the company named chairman Peter Seah and Gupta into its board of directors. Seah took over from Kwa Chong Seng in 26 July 2010.