DBS Group Holdings Ltd picked Tan Su Shan as deputy to chief executive officer Piyush Gupta, setting the stage for her to eventually become the first woman to lead Southeast Asia’s largest bank.

Tan, currently head of DBS’ institutional banking group, will succeed Gupta as CEO when he retires at the next annual general meeting on March 28, 2025, according to a statement by the bank on Wednesday. 

The appointment caps years of speculation over who will succeed Gupta, one of Asia’s most high-profile bankers who has led DBS for 14 years. Gupta, 64, is credited with multiplying returns at the former state-owned bank, while transforming its culture and technology to face growing competition from digital lenders.

Tan, 56, is the only female banker among the four contenders being groomed to replace Gupta, Bloomberg reported in 2023. She is credited with expanding the consumer and wealth businesses, which accounted for about a third of pretax profit by the time she moved to her current job in 2019. Gupta hired her from Morgan Stanley in 2010.

Tan would become the second woman to lead a major bank in Singapore, after Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp appointed Helen Wong in 2021.  

  - Bloomberg