DBS Group Holdings has made two new senior appointments on July 26.
It has appointed Lim Soon Chong as the bank’s group head of global transactions services with effect from Aug 1.
Lim will succeed outgoing head, John Laurens, who will be retiring.
Lim, who joined DBS in 2006, has had experience in various assignments including consumer, wealth, corporate treasury and risk management.
Prior to his new role, Lim was group head of investment products and advisory for DBS’s consumer banking and wealth management business.
Under his leadership, the business saw significant growth to its assets under management (AUM) and fee revenue. Lim also oversaw DBS’s repositioning for its mass retail investing, cash equities brokerage and financial planning businesses in Singapore and Hong Kong as digital-focused properties.
Laurens will remain as senior adviser till Dec 31. He has been with DBS since 2014 and has played a key role to clinching several accolades for the bank including Overall Best Service (Global) #1 in Euromoney’s Cash Management Survey 2020 and Best Transaction Bank in Asia-Pacific in The Banker’s Transaction Banking Awards 2020.
As Lim currently holds two positions as Head of Digital for DBS’ institutional banking group and group head of product management for the global transactions services business, the bank has appointed Sriram Muthukrishnan to take over Lim’s other role as group head of product management following the latter’s appointment.
Muthukrishnan, who has over 20 years of banking experience, will oversee DBS’s cash and trade businesses going forward. Since joining DBS in November 2018, he has led a complete turnaround of the bank’s trade finance and supply chain finance business.
“The rapid digitalisation of trade, cash management and securities services, and the world’s increased focus on sustainability have opened doors to new avenues of growth for our global transaction banking business. This is an exciting time for Soon Chong to take the lead in propelling the business to greater heights. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank John for his committed leadership and invaluable contributions in establishing our transaction banking franchise as a global leader in trade, cash, securities services and digital in less than a decade,” says Tan Su Shan, DBS’s group head of institutional banking.
“Sriram’s extensive experience in corporate, institutional and transaction banking functions across the world’s leading financial hubs including Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai and India places him in good stead to drive DBS’ market leadership in our cash and trade businesses. We remain committed to efforts to rotate our senior leaders around different functions and markets to hone their business acumen and technical skillsets to ensure they are well equipped to navigate the challenges and opportunities of tomorrow,” she adds.
Shares in DBS closed at $30.21 on July 23.
Photos: DBS
