Tan Su Shan

Chief Executive Officer — DBS Group

About Tan Su Shan

Key facts Role: Chief executive officer Organisation: DBS Group Country: Singapore Sector: Banking Headline figures: Record second-quarter 2026 net profit of S$3.08 billion; first-half income of S$12.0 billion Tan Su Shan runs Southeast Asia's largest bank, and in her second year in the job it is earning more than ever. On 6 August 2026 DBS Group reported a record second-quarter net profit of S$3.08 billion, up 9 per cent on a year earlier. Quarterly income passed S$6 billion for the first time, and assets under management in its wealth business went above S$500 billion. Weeks earlier, Fortune had ranked her sixth in the world, and first in Asia, on its 2026 Most Powerful Women in Business list. The role As chief executive and a director of DBS, Tan sets strategy and capital allocation for a group present in 19 markets across Greater China, Southeast Asia and South Asia. At the end of June its loans stood at S$469 billion and deposits at S$638 billion. First-half income reached a record S$12.0 billion and net profit S$6.01 billion, with a return on equity of 17.5 per cent. Fortune notes that the bank's market capitalisation passed US$100 billion for the first time in 2025, putting it among the world's 25 most valuable banks. The first full year She is the first woman to lead DBS. She took over in 2025 from Piyush Gupta, who ran the bank for 15 years. The challenge in her first full year has been falling interest rates, which squeeze the margins that have powered Singapore banks. Her answer has been to lean on fees. In the second quarter, net fee income rose 25 per cent to S$1.46 billion, wealth management fees jumped 42 per cent to a record S$919 million, and treasury customer sales hit a new high. Net interest income slipped 2 per cent as the net interest margin narrowed to 1.87 per cent from 2.05 per cent. Asset quality held, with a non-performing loan ratio of 1.0 per cent. "We delivered a strong set of results for the first half, anchored by the strength of our wealth management franchise," Tan said in the bank's results statement on 6 August 2026. At the briefing that day she told analysts the team was "firing on all cylinders", The Business Times reported. DBS raised its full-year guidance and now expects total income for 2026 to exceed the 2025 level. It lifted its forecast for growth in commercial-book non-interest income to the mid-teens. The board declared a quarterly dividend of S$0.81 a share, including a S$0.15 capital-return component. Background Tan has spent more than 35 years in consumer banking, wealth management and institutional banking, according to DBS, working in Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo and London. Before joining DBS she headed private wealth management for Southeast Asia at Morgan Stanley. She had earlier worked at Citibank and ING Barings. At DBS she ran consumer banking and wealth management for close to a decade, then became deputy chief executive and head of institutional banking. From 2014 to 2024 she was president commissioner of PT Bank DBS Indonesia. She was a Nominated Member of Parliament in Singapore from 2012 to 2014. “We delivered a strong set of results for the first half, anchored by the strength of our wealth management franchise,” — Tan, in the bank's results statement on 6 August 2026 Regional reach Her influence reaches beyond the bank. In August 2025 the Singapore government appointed her to the Economic Strategy Review committee on global competitiveness. Fortune credits her with steering DBS through renewed trade tensions and the rise of alternative financial products such as cryptocurrencies. The bank's choices on where to lend, which markets to grow in and how fast to deploy technology shape corporate and household finance well beyond Singapore, including in India, Indonesia, mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, where DBS operates. What to watch: whether fee growth can keep offsetting lower rates as the Singapore Overnight Rate Average settles near the 1.2 per cent the bank expects, how DBS deploys surplus capital, and whether she pursues acquisitions in growth markets. She ranks third because she commands the balance sheet, profits and regional reach of the largest lender in Southeast Asia, and has had a strong first full year. Sources DBS newsroom, DBS second-quarter net profit up 9% to record SGD 3.08 billion... , 6 Aug 2026 The Business Times, DBS raises 2026 guidance as wealth business powers growth in Q2 despite lower rates , 6 Aug 2026 The Business Times, DBS CEO Tan Su Shan ranks sixth globally on Fortune's most powerful women list in 2026 , 28 May 2026 Fortune, Most Powerful Women 2026: Tan Su Shan DBS, Board of Directors profile: Tan Su Shan

Why this entry is on the list

She ranks third because she commands the balance sheet, profits and regional reach of the largest lender in Southeast Asia, and has had a strong first full year. DBS reported a record second-quarter net profit of S$3.08 billion in August 2026 and is present in 19 markets, and Fortune ranked her first in Asia on its 2026 Most Powerful Women in Business list.