DBS' Rajan Raju quits consumer banking head post

Raju transfers to Deutsche Asset after recent high-level hirings and 13.6% decline in lender's consumer banking.

DBS's head of consumer banking, Rajan Raju, has resigned after 11 years with Southeast Asia's biggest bank and is joining Deutsche Asset Management in a senior role, sources familiar with the move said.

The departure comes during a string of leadership changes at DBS in Hong Kong and Singapore, as Chief Executive Piyush Gupta tries to boost market share in the bank's two key markets.

Gupta has hired Sebastian Paredes, formerly with Indonesia's Bank Danamon, as head of its Hong Kong unit. He has also named ex-Citibanker Sim S. Lim to the newly created post of country manager for Singapore and poached Tan Su Shan from Morgan Stanley as private banking head.

"If such big personalities were hired in major markets, then what was left for Rajan Raju," said an analyst at a foreign brokerage who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.

"DBS has also not done well in consumer banking recently."

DBS consumer banking unit, which includes the private bank, reported a 13.6 percent decline in second quarter net profit from a year ago.

View the full story in Reuters.