Jackson Tai will lose a tennis doubles partner with the departure of Philippe Paillart from DBS. However, he can console himself that he will become CEO of the bank in the Frenchman's place. Tai's appointment marks a return to the JPMorgan mafia at DBS, after a one-and-a half year flirtation with a former Standard Chartered consumer banker.
Tai has been at DBS since 1999, and came to the bank in the John Olds era. Olds was another lifelong JPMorgan banker. The Singapore government owns 30% of DBS, and brought in Olds with the stated objective to modernize it and shake up Singapore's then cosy banking sector.
Given the consolidation that...
