DBS mirrors Singapore's success in harnessing talent from within and without

SINGAPORE is a young nation, only 54 years old and DBS Group Holdings is only slightly younger at 51, formed in 1968 as the Development Bank of Singapore to finance the industrialisation of a newly independent nation.

It is Southeast Asia's largest bank with over 24,000 employees, of which fewer than half or about 11,000 are in Singapore,.

DBS' identity is clearly that of Singapore even as it proudly and rightly takes the title as one of Asia's leading banks.

Accolades continue to follow the bank, in a way pretty much like Singapore which regularly wins world class contests. Just this month, DBS won the Best Debt Bank in the world award from Global Finance.

The issue of identity and who DBS serves may be worth another look as yet another Citi lifer joins the bank. It may be worth noting that DBS' most senior ranks are filled with bankers who cut…