DBS hires ex-Standard Chartered banker to lead India wealth team

DBS Group Holdings Ltd. has hired Nitin Chengappa, a former Standard Chartered Plc banker, to head its wealth management business in India as it bets on rising demand for tailored products from the country’s newly rich.

Chengappa joined the lender in July and reports to Ambuj Chandna, who heads DBS’s consumer banking business in India, said people familiar with the matter who requested not to be identified as the appointment has not been publicly announced.

DBS Bank India confirmed to Bloomberg News that Chengappa had joined the firm as managing director and head of Treasuries Business and Wealth Management but didn’t provide further details.

Chengappa spent nearly a decade at Standard Chartered in India where he last worked as head of affluent distribution and branch network, according to his LinkedIn profile. Previously, he spent more than a decade at HSBC Holdings Plc, among others.

Wealth management has emerged as a key growth area in India, with the rise in rich individuals and families prompting the likes of HSBC and domestic firms to expand aggressively in the country. India is among the world’s fastest-growing wealth markets, with about 917,000 millionaires and just under 200 billionaires, according to UBS.

DBS has been positive about growth in India and willing to commit capital to the market. It entered India’s buoyant equity capital market this year, marking a push into one of the world’s busiest venues for share sales. It took over Lakshmi Vilas Bank Ltd. in 2020, the first time Indian authorities turned to a foreign lender to bail out a struggling local rival.

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