By Gabriel Chen

NEW DBS Group Holdings chief executive Piyush Gupta has used his first company address to urge staff to look beyond the financial crisis to the opportunities that will emerge in the new environment.

Mr Gupta told his employees in an internal memorandum obtained by The Straits Times that he is approaching his new job with excitement and optimism.

He also laid out his priorities for the bank and provided an insight into his style of communication.

'I believe this changing environment provides us with a unique window to stake out our position as the Asian bank,' said Mr Gupta, as he highlighted the bank's financial strength, solid pedigree and leading market advantage here.

'There're very few players who enjoy this strength or opportunities similar to ours.'

The former Citibanker started his first day of work yesterday and assumed the CEO's position after Mr Richard Stanley died of cancer earlier this year.

Mr Gupta, 49, said his first priority was to get to know the business and to meet as many of the staff as he could, here and in overseas branches.

'Please bear with me as I do this, as I'm likely to ask some naive questions as I go about this process,' he said in the memo.

'My hope is that in three to four months, I'm in a position to revalidate our strategy and articulate a high-level road map that guides all of us in our action.'

Mr Gupta talked about his working style - 'I run an open calendar, I like to communicate with a lot of people from all levels of the organisation' - but also conveyed it with an air of humility.

'I approach my job with optimism; however, I also approach it with a sense of humility, conscious that I stand on the shoulders of giants who had this role before me.'

Mr Gupta added in his memo that in the last few weeks, he has had a few 'informal meetings' with some of his management team and the board.

'The quality of the people in terms of the sense of commitment appears to be superb, and everyone I've met has been truly warm and welcoming,' he said.

Some DBS staff told The Straits Times that they were impressed by his candour. 'A leader with feet on the ground and I'm happy that he wants to meet us,' said a banker.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.