There's change coming at the top of the bank's operations in India, now an increasingly important financial and wealth management jurisdiction.

DBS has appointed Rajat Verma as its new chief executive of the DBS Bank India business, taking effect from 1 March 2025. The Reserve Bank of India has approved the appointment, DBS said in a statement this week.

Verma, head of institutional banking group (IBG) at DBS Bank India, will succeed Surojit Shome as CEO upon the latter’s retirement on 28 February. In this new role, Verma will be part of DBS’ group management committee.

The bank said Shome was appointed as CEO of DBS Bank India in 2015. He expanded the India franchise by launching digibank India’s first mobile-only bank in 2016. He also led the subsidiarisation of DBS in India in 2019 and the amalgamation of Lakshmi Vilas Bank in 2020. Today, DBS Bank India is present in more than 350 locations in 19 states.

The Singapore-headquartered bank said the newly-appointed CEO has a 27-year track record across consumer and corporate banking, including transactional banking, financial institutions, sustainable finance, micro and SME banking, as well as branch banking. He joined DBS as head of IBG in June 2023.

“India has been a key market for DBS over the last 30 years and under Surojit’s leadership, over the last decade, DBS India has grown impressively to become a full-service platform across the institutional banking, wealth and retail segments,” DBS CEO Piyush Gupta said. “We thank Surojit for his strong vision and unwavering commitment to excellence in growing DBS India into the strong franchise it is today. A banking veteran, Rajat has solidified our India IBG business since joining us 18 months ago.”

DBS has been intensifying its focus on India for some time. In early November 2024, DBS Private Bank issued a white paper looking at the expansion of the Indian diaspora and the associated opportunities. The 77-page study, which includes examples of real family offices and businesses, is entitled Global Indian Family Offices: Evolution of the Indian Diaspora. The report was researched and written in partnership with Bloomberg Media.