This is the first time an Asian-headquartered bank has been named “World’s Best Bank” by Euromoney since the award was launched in 1993. Past winners included Bank of America, BNP Paribas, Citi and UBS. DBS was also named Asia’s Best Bank and Singapore’s Best Bank in this year’s Awards for Excellence.
DBS’ digital transformation efforts – widely recognised as one of the most comprehensive for a bank – continue to reap results. At end-2018, return on equity, at 12.1%, was among the highest for a developed market bank. Over 80% of DBS’ open systems were cloud-ready; its API platform had over 350 APIs, business and tech teams were co-drivers in 33 platforms and over 10,000 employees were trained on a data-driven curriculum.
In the area of sustainable finance, DBS provided green loans, sustainability performance-linked loans and renewable energy financing amounting to more than SGD 2.4 billion in 2018. This year, the bank signed Singapore’s first sustainability-linked loan for an SME with Chew’s Agriculture, a leading egg producer in Singapore, as well as Taiwan’s first sustainability-linked loan, with electronics manufacturer AU Optronics.
DBS was the first bank in Southeast Asia to be included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index Asia-Pacific, and the first Singapore bank to be named as a constituent of the FTSE4Good Global Index. It has also been included in the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index since 2018.
DBS is a leading financial services group in Asia with a presence in 18 markets. Headquartered and listed in Singapore, DBS is in the three key Asian axes of growth: Greater China, Southeast Asia and South Asia. The bank’s “AA-” and “Aa1” credit ratings are among the highest in the world.
DBS provides a full range of services in consumer, SME and corporate banking. As a bank born and bred in Asia, DBS understands the intricacies of doing business in the region’s most dynamic markets. DBS is committed to building lasting relationships with customers, and positively impacting communities through supporting social enterprises, as it banks the Asian way. It has also established a SGD 50 million foundation to strengthen its corporate social responsibility efforts in Singapore and across Asia.
With its extensive network of operations in Asia and emphasis on engaging and empowering its staff, DBS presents exciting career opportunities. The bank acknowledges the passion, commitment and can-do spirit in all of our 27,000 staff, representing over 40 nationalities.
