DBS Group Considers Forming Insurance Partnerships in India, Taiwan: Sources

DBS Group Holdings Ltd. is considering forming insurance partnerships in India and Taiwan to expand its services in the region, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Singapore-based lender is working with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. as an adviser on potential bancassurance agreements for those markets, the people said, asking not to be identified because the deliberations are private.

In bancassurance, an insurer typically pays upfront for exclusive rights to sell its products in bank branches. This DBS transaction could be worth a few hundred million dollars and may include products in Singapore, the people said.

Considerations are preliminary and DBS could decide not to pursue a deal, the people said.

Representatives for DBS and Goldman declined to comment.

DBS already has abancassurance partnership with Toronto-based Manulife Financial Corp. for markets including China, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Singapore.

DBS has had a presence in India for three decades, having opened its first office in Mumbai in 1994. In 2020, DBS Bank India Ltd. merged with Lakshmi Vilas Bank Ltd., and it now has about 500 branches in 19 states, according to a recent press release. It entered Taiwan even earlier, in 1983, and has more than 70 branches across the island, expanding organically and via acquisitions.

Last month, DBS said that Tan Su Shan will take over from Chief Executive Officer Piyush Gupta in March, becoming the first woman to lead the bank. Gupta is credited with multiplying returns at DBS, which is backed by Temasek Holdings Pte, and transforming its culture and technology amid rising competition from digital lenders.

Photograph: Signage at a DBS Group Holdings Ltd. bank branch in Singapore, on Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. Photo credit: Ore Huiying/Bloomberg