DBS lays out 2020 goals for transaction banking

Singapore

DBS Bank is eager to grow its cash management at a faster clip than before, and at a time when its trade book has been hit by a slowing China, falling commodity prices, and as arbitrage opportunities for the yuan have dried up.

The bank expects to double its income from the trade finance business, and quadruple its cash management segment by 2020, said John Laurens, group head of global transaction banking services at DBS. Mr Laurens joined the bank in November from HSBC.

The growth will be driven partly by new technology to detect trade fraud - a common and long-standing problem for trade finance houses - which the bank hopes to use to help it stand apart f…