• Published on 2 February 2024
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DBS merges divisions, renaming to Global Financial Markets

DBS announced that it will be merging equity capital markets, brokerage DBS Vickers and DBS Digital Exchange (DDEX) with its existing treasury markets business, with the new group to be renamed Global Financial Markets (GFM). This takes effect on 1 March 2024.

As part of the merger, Andrew Ng, currently head of treasury markets, will oversee the new enlarged group as group head of GFM. Clifford Lee, currently group head of fixed income, will assume the expanded role of head of investment banking, which encompasses debt and equity capital markets, and DBS Vickers. In this role, he will continue to report to Ng. Art Karoonyavanich will extend his existing role as head of capital markets (Singapore) to include the region. Kenneth Tang will continue his role as group CEO for DBS Vickers. Both Karoonyavanich and Tang will report to Lee.

These organisational changes are being made with the retirement of group head of capital markets Eng-Kwok Seat Moey, who is stepping down in March after 36 years with the bank.

Eng-Kwok joined DBS in 1998 when the bank acquired POSB. She took over the role of group head of capital markets in 2014, overseeing advisory and corporate finance, as well as the structuring and execution of all equity transactions including corporate equity fund raising and real estate investment trusts (REITs). She also oversees the securities business in Vickers Group.

A veteran banker, she was instrumental in the development of the REITs industry in Singapore and the region, having advised on numerous industry-first structures. She also played an integral role in growing DBS’ capital markets franchise beyond Singapore through a number of regional landmark transactions. Under her leadership, DBS continues to lead the market not only in Singapore but also in Asia ex-Japan, consistently ranking at the top of regional, Singapore, Hong Kong and Indonesia league tables.

In addition, she led the team which set up the DBS Digital Asset Ecosystem (DAE). DAE provides origination, distribution, custody and trading services for various digital assets including security tokens and cryptocurrencies. She is also the founding chair of DDEX, the region’s first bank-backed digital exchange.

Ng joined DBS in 2000 and was appointed managing director and regional head of trading in 2005. Since 2006, he has been instrumental in leading DBS treasury market’s expansion in the region. In addition, he helped build a pan-Asia trading platform on different asset classes and established a region-wide local currencies derivative capability for the bank. He has also expanded DBS’ capabilities in generic and exotic derivatives.

Lee, who has more than three decades of investment banking experience across Asia, has been with DBS since 2004. As group head of fixed income, he was responsible for the bank’s bond origination, structured finance, ratings, syndicate and global distribution businesses across the region. He also represents DBS as an investment committee member on the Asian private credit fund managed by Muzinich.

Karoonyavanich has 24 years of investment banking experience and has led numerous landmark transactions across Asia. He joined DBS in 2015 as managing director and regional head of equity syndicate. He was also CEO of DBS Asia Capital overseeing the bank’s Hong Kong and China investment banking business.

Piyush Gupta, CEO of DBS, said: “DBS is synonymous with equity capital markets in Singapore, and much of this can be credited to Seat who has been pivotal in pioneering many industry-firsts. This includes the development of the REITs industry in Singapore and the region. I would like to thank Seat for her immense contributions to DBS, and to wish her well in the next chapter of her life. Seat’s retirement created an opportunity to merge various businesses including equity capital markets and DBS Vickers with treasury markets. I am confident that this merger will provide for greater synergy and enable us to more holistically meet our customers’ needs.”

Re-disseminated by The Asian Banker