DBS Group Holdings chairman Koh Boon Hwee yesterday helped to put the finishing touches to the bank's new 340,000 sq ft office building at Changi Business Park.

Structural works are now complete at DBS Asia Hub, which will house more than 2,400 DBS staff, or 15 per cent of the bank's workforce.

Strategically, the works hold greater significance for DBS than mere concrete and steel. The bank's staff, mainly those from backend and support functions, will relocate to the building from places like DBS Tower 1 at Shenton Way and Technopark at Chai Chee in the first quarter of next year.

The move will consolidate most of the bank's technology and operational units under one roof, DBS said yesterday.

The DBS Asia Hub is part of a comprehensive strategy spread over several years, which was announced by the bank in 2007.

This includes the relocation of DBS' headquarters to the Marina Bay Financial Centre here, and various business units to the One Island East and Millennium City 6 business complexes in Hong Kong.

Mr Koh said: 'By consolidating our operations teams under one roof, we are also facilitating greater efficiency and productivity, which will in turn enable us to be even more responsive to our customer needs.'

DBS has about 15,000 staff and operations in 16 markets.

GABRIEL CHEN

This article was first published in The Straits Times.