The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of DBS, Piyush Gupta, was paid S$11.2 million for 2023, DBS said in its annual report.

This is a drop of about S$4.2 million or 27 per cent from his previous pay of S$15.4 million in 2022.

Gupta's base salary of S$1.5 million remained unchanged from 2022.

However, his cash bonus for 2023 was S$4.1 million, down from S$5.7 million in 2022, and his deferred remuneration was about S$5.6 million for 2023, compared to S$8 million in 2022.

Disruptions taken into account for Gupta's pay

Earlier on Feb. 7, 2024, DBS announced that Gupta would be paid less due to the digital disruptions experienced by the bank's customers.

In its annual report, the bank said that while it "fared well" against most priorities on its scorecard, it fell short in technology resiliency.

This issue and the resulting impact on customers and the bank's franchise were taken into account for determining the scorecard of both the bank's Group and Gupta.

Hence, despite the record figures of over S$20 billion for the bank's total income (for the first time), a profit margin of S$10.3 billion and a return of 18 per cent on equities, the "gaps" in technology resilience resulted in a lower scorecard appraisal by the bank's board, compared to 2022.

DBS added that the scorecard is based on key performances indicators (KPIs) such as how well the bank fares against shareholder, customer and employee indicators, progress in transforming the bank, scaling growth across the bank's markets, and managing risks among others.

Bank's senior management also took a pay cut

Gupta was not the only staff member to receive a pay cut over the disruptions.

DBS added that its senior management's aggregate total compensation, excluding that of the CEO, came up to S$63.5 million in 2023.

This is a reduction of S$10.3 million from S$73.8 million in 2022.

DBS added that the total variable pay for its senior management, including the CEO, was reduced by 21 per cent, to reflect their accountability for the digital disruptions.

Experienced multiple disruptions in 2023

DBS experienced five major disruptions in 2023 on Mar. 29, May 5, Sep. 26, Oct. 14 and Oct. 20.

During the most recent disruption on Oct. 20, 2023, DBS customers experienced intermittent service with the PayLah! app.

Some customers were unable to log into the app since 8:54am in the morning.

DBS said services were restored by 11:40am.

Photo from Piyush Gupta / LinkedIn