Compliance
Singapore Regulator Lifts Six-Month Pause On DBS's "Non-Essential" Activities
The watchdog had imposed a halt on the bank while the lender sorted out a set of problems in its digital banking systems. The stakes are high because banks are increasingly embracing digital tech.
The Monetary
Authority of Singapore yesterday said that it would not
extend the pause imposed on DBS Bank’s non-essential business
while it restored its digital banking services after a series of
mishaps.
The six-month pause was imposed from 1 November and ran
until yesterday.
The multiplier of 1.8 times to DBS Bank’s risk weighted assets
for operational risk will be retained, the Singapore regulator
said in a statement.
The watchdog imposed the pause to “ensure that the bank kept a
sharp focus on restoring the resilience of its digital banking
services.”
Such problems come at a time when banks around the world are
moving towards more digital channels, making it all the more
necessary for systems to remain robust.
“While full implementation of the remediation plan is still
ongoing, MAS notes that DBS Bank has made substantive progress to
address the shortcomings identified from service disruptions
experienced by its customers in 2023. Improvements have been made
to its technology risk governance, system resilience, change
management, and incident management,” MAS said.
DBS has
apologised for a set of digital disruptions during
2023.
MAS said the bank’s remediation will continue with some
longer-term measures still being worked on, such as the continued
simplification and strengthening of the bank’s system's
architecture.
“A six-month pause on non-essential activities, imposed by MAS
since November 2023, has enabled the bank to further prioritise
attention and resources on addressing gaps in technology
resiliency,” DBS said in a statement.
“In particular, to improve service availability and speed up
recovery time in the event of disruptions, the bank has
undertaken a number of key actions in the areas of technology
risk governance and oversight, system resilience, change
management and incident management,” it said.
