TL;DR:
– DBS CEO Piyush Gupta takes a $3 million pay cut due to disruptions in the bank’s digital banking services.
– The pay cuts are meant to hold senior management accountable for the disruptions.
– DBS faced several major outages throughout 2023, prompting the bank to set aside $59.56 million to improve system reliability.
– The Monetary Authority of Singapore ordered DBS to pause non-essential IT changes for six months to strengthen its technology risk management systems and controls.
DBS Group Holdings, Singapore’s largest lender and the largest bank in Southeast Asia, has achieved a record performance with its net profits rising 26% to $7.63 billion. However, CEO Piyush Gupta is taking a $3 million pay cut, along with other senior managers, due to disruptions in the bank’s digital banking services. The pay cuts are meant to hold senior management accountable for the disruptions that occurred throughout 2023. DBS faced five major disruptions, including an outage in March where online services went offline for nine hours and a technical issue in October that prevented customers from accessing banking services for over twelve hours. The bank has promised to set aside $59.56 million to improve system reliability. The Monetary Authority of Singapore has also imposed restrictions on DBS, barring it from acquiring new business ventures for six months and ordering a pause on non-essential IT changes. Despite the setbacks, CEO Piyush Gupta is optimistic about the bank’s performance in 2024 and announced a one-time bonus for junior- and lower-income employees.