DBS Bank announced on Aug. 7 that 56-year-old Singaporean Tan Su Shan will succeed 64-year-old Piyush Gupta as the bank's chief executive officer (CEO) after his retirement in March 2025.

Until then, Tan will assume the position of deputy CEO, in addition to her present role as the group head of institutional banking at the homegrown bank.

In its statement, DBS also added that Tan was selected as the next CEO because she was deemed the strongest candidate for the position amongst "potential external candidates" and "a strong field of internal candidates" who were "put through an extended development programme to develop their experience, exposure, and skills for the role".

But what exactly was on Tan's resume that made her stand out? Here is what we know.

Oxford graduate with over 35 years of experience in finance

According to Tan's LinkedIn profile, she graduated from Oxford University with a Master of Arts degree in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics in 1989.

She also completed executive leadership courses at Harvard Business School and Stanford Business School, said DBS.

After graduating, Tan started off her career in institutional equity and derivative sales at ING Baring Securities before joining Morgan Stanley as an executive director in 1997, according to Reuters.

She then joined Citigroup in 2005, where she served as the regional head for Brunei, Malaysia, and Singapore.

Three years later, Tan made a return to Morgan Stanley and became its head of private wealth management for Southeast Asia.

Joined DBS in 2010

Tan joined DBS in 2010 after receiving a call from Gupta, who had just become DBS' CEO and persuaded her to join the bank.

Tan subsequently spent her first three years at the bank building the foundation of its wealth management business.

She then spent "almost equal lengths of time" managing the bank's consumer banking, wealth management and the institutional banking businesses, which account for 90 per cent of DBS' income, said the bank.

In the businesses she ran, Tan also "led the day-to-day efforts to operationalise the bank's digitalisation strategy".

In 2014, she became the president commissioner of DBS Indonesia, a position she continues to hold today.

International recognitions

For her achievements in the finance industry, Tan has won numerous accolades over the years.

In 2018, she was nominated by Forbes as one of the "Top 25 emergent Asian Woman Business leaders", according to an interview Tan did with The Mentoring Circle that was republished by the Singapore Management University (SMU).

A year later, Tan was named as one of the six women in Asia who are "likely to influence and feature prominently in shaping the banking and associated financial services industry in Asia" by Hong Kong-based news and research company The Asset.

Personal interests outside of finance career

Outside her finance career, Tan was also involved in charity and education, including serving on the board of trustees at SMU from 2017 to 2021.

Between 2012 and 2014, Tan joined lawmakers in the House as a Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP).

In terms of leadership style, Tan previously shared that she has "tremendous respect" for former prime minister of the United Kingdom Margaret Thatcher, who "did not care one bit about popularity" and focused solely on "doing the right thing".

She also stated that she aspires to be like Singapore's first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, who, like Thatcher, "did not care about being popular but about doing the right things always".

Tan was passionate about tap dancing in her youth, and is an avid piano player, Reuters reported.

Top image via DBS