DBS Group Holdings chairman Koh Boon Hwee said that the bank has a lot of options in its search for a chief executive, after he dismissed talk that he would be interested in the job himself.

'Why would I want to do that if I can be chairman?' he said yesterday to reporters at the bank's first-quarter 2009 results.

DBS has been looking for a new chief executive following the death of Richard Stanley last month. Mr Stanley had joined DBS last May and went on medical leave after he was diagnosed with leukaemia in January.

Mr Koh said that the bank would be conducting a global search and 'we do not exclude anyone'.

'We're definitely not in the mood of dragging it out,' he said when asked for a timeline.

'We have a very good team of very experienced managers across the bank who have worked together for a long period of time.'

On the wider pool of candidates thrown up by the financial crisis, he said that there are 'a lot more options today; it behooves the bank to take a very good look'.

Mr Koh is personally leading the search for the chief executive along with DBS's nominating comittee, said Karen Ngui, the bank's spokeswoman.

Speculation on DBS's next chief executive has so far thrown up familiar names.

The internal candidates mentioned most often are Jeanette Wong and Rajan Raju. Ms Wong heads DBS's institutional banking while Mr Raju is in charge of consumer banking.

Outsiders include Francis Rozario who is chief executive of the financial arm of Temasek.

There's also Mike DeNoma, former global head of consumer banking at Standard Chartered and current president of the Wrestling Federation of Singapore. Another potential is said to be Hsieh Fu Hua, Singapore Exchange's chief executive whose term ends in September.

This article was first published in The Business Times.