Singapore’s DBS Bank appoints Rajat Verma as India CEO from March 2025 — Who is he? | Company Business News
Rajat Verma has been appointed as the CEO of Singapore-based DBS Group’s DBS Bank India, an official statement said on December 30. Verma is set to succeed outgoing CEO Surojit Shome, who retires on February 28, it added.
The agency had reported in November cited sources that DBS had nominated Verma for the role and sought approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for the appointment, the statement added. Notably, the central bank approves all bank CEO appointments.
“Rajat has solidified our India IBG business since joining us 18 months ago. With our robust platform, DBS is well-positioned to continue participating in the India growth story over the coming years,” said DBS CEO Piyush Gupta.
The Appointment
As per the official statement, Verma, who current heads the institutional banking group (IBG) at DBS Bank India, will take over as CEO effective from March 1, 2025. In the new role, he will be part of DBS’ group management committee, DBS, Southeast Asia’s biggest bank, it added.
Gupta added, “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 is present in over 350 locations in India and is one of the bank’s core markets among Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong and China.
At the annual general meeting (AGM) in March 2024, Gupta told shareholders that the group would allocate Singapore Dollars 300-550 million (around $368.54 million) capital towards India operations over the next three-to-four years.
Who is Rajat Verma?
Before joining DBS, Verma spent over 26 years at HSBC, where he was head of commercial banking in India, his LinkedIn profile shows. He has a 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 in June 2023, and has since significantly grown the business across all client segments through deepening existing corporate relationships, accelerating the acquisition of new customers, and identifying new opportunities across a broad spectrum of growth areas, as per the official release. “Under his leadership, DBS was named the Best Bank for Sustainable Finance – India by Global Finance in 2024,” the statement added.
