By Tan Dawn Wei

Nearly a year ago, Mr Rajan Raju stood in front of more than 700 aggrieved investors in a Suntec convention hall as they yelled, cried and lobbed accusations at him.

They had lost large sums buying a complex structured product, DBS High Notes, that had become worthless after the collapse of Lehman Brothers. For hours, the head of DBS consumer banking listened patiently, consoled them and explained things.

'Our rule is to listen to everyone, and they all had different stories, and to be objective throughout,' said the banking veteran.

Mr Raju's composure and tact throughout the ordeal earned him respect from within the ranks and among outsiders.

All in, there were six dialogue sessions. In the immediate aftermath of Lehman's unravelling, he was the only banking chief among the institutions that sold Lehman-related products here to step out and face the music.

But India-born Mr Raju, 43, downplays his actions. 'Banking, at the end of the day, is about people... You have a problem, you want to deal with an individual, not with an organisation,' he said.

He noted others from his bank like its former chief executive, the late Richard Stanley, and chairman Koh Boon Hwee also came forward.

Mr Raju had moved from being head of the bank's technology and operations, global transaction services and South and South-east Asian markets, just five months before the crisis struck.

He has wasted no time in trying to earn back DBS customers' trust.

The bank refined its sales process in January by introducing more checks to ascertain customers' investment experience and risk profile, and allowing a cooling-off period. It paid out $7.6 million in compensation. But that has not sufficiently soothed investors, 204 of whom have sued the bank to recover the $17 million lost.

Mr Raju concedes the debacle has dented the bank's image and there were lapses during the sales process. Amends are being made.

'A year down the road, obviously the financial storm also meant a number of relationship managers have had to rethink their relationship with clients. A few years ago, it was based around investment products; now it is based on relationships,' he said.

What has he personally taken away from this episode?

'The importance in banking remains trust... We, as bankers, have to keep focused on doing the right thing by clients and other stakeholders.'

This article was first published in The Straits Times.