End of DBS' foreign talent obsession?
by admin , June 18, 2010, 1715hrs
By The Corporate Observer Team
email@corporateobserver.com.sg
There you have it. The new DBS Group chairman himself making it pretty clear how he felt about the indiscriminate hiring of foreign talent.
In his first full interview with the local media, Peter Seah Lim Huat who used to run Overseas Union Bank before it was taken over by United Overseas Bank in 2001 made plain he would prefer a home-grown talent to be running the Singapore government-controlled bank. While he was careful not to undermine the board and the recently-hired chief executive Piyush Gupta, he also indicated that if he had a choice he would prefer a Singaporean as the bank’s CEO.
The straight-talking chairman said:”My CEO has only been in the job for eight months. If I started thinking of a new CEO now, then I would be suggesting the board did not make the right decision. Hopefully the next CEO is not a decision we will have to make for the next 10 years but he should preferably be from within the bank, somebody homegrown within the bank.’’
He further explained:”If the best is a choice between the two, then obviously I would choose a Singaporean...I would expect that there are natural advantages for Singaporeans in terms of relationships with the business community, people and with the government.’’
Mr Seah’s remarks on local and foreign talent may be overlooked by many. But it is certainly a point that should not be underplayed. Those who have watched the veteran banker closely would also know how he felt about the performance of the government bank in the last decade under the different regimes headed by foreign heads. It is also no secret Mr Seah was fiercely proud of his senior management team at OUB, who were mostly local talent. He had close rapport with them and continued to stay in touch.
Indeed, one-time DBS chairman, Ngiam Tong Dow, who left in the late 90s has also been highly critical of the foreign talent policy adopted by the bank in recent years. Now a director at rival bank United Overseas Bank, Mr Ngiam had slammed on no less than two occasions the foreign hirings by Singapore companies which has not brought indisputable shareholder value to the local firms. UOB, on the other hand, appears to have fewer foreign talent at its senior level.
What is interesting too had been the recent moves by DBS which appears to be reversing several of its major policies of the last few years. Most significantly was the re-appointment of former POSBank chief Bertie Cheng as advisor at the savings bank. Mr Seah also found it necessary to bring up the appointment of new private banking head Tan Su Shan who he proudly describes as “born, and raised here’’.
Going forward, will we be seeing more reversal of the foreign talent and globalisation policies? DBS has already declared it has radically reviewed its Islamic banking activities in the Middle East as well as pulled out of its Indian retail business. Is DBS becoming more realistic and switching its focus back to Singapore and Hong Kong?
More important, will we be seeing more local talent given greater opportunities and responsibilities at the senior level? Or even the re-emergence of other well-known veterans, like Mr Seah himself, who have the necessary clout and regional contacts.
Perhaps for a start, DBS might want to consider a more realistic and relevant “Born and Raised Here’’ as its tagline (yes, credit Mr Seah for that) instead of the “Living, Breathing Asia’’ which many have difficulty relating to.
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