Singapore central bank censures DBS over glitch

SINGAPORE — Singapore's central bank said Wednesday it had censured DBS Group Holdings, Southeast Asia's biggest lender, for a technical glitch that caused a breakdown in banking services last month.The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said it had instructed DBS Group Holdings to set aside an extra 230 million Singapore dollars (170 million US) in regulatory capital for operational risks.It comes after last month's technical glitch affected normal banking transactions such as withdrawing cash from automated teller machines (ATMs), online banking services and electronic payment for purchases at retail outlets."This incident has revealed weaknesses in DBS Bank's technology and operational risk management controls," the monetary authority said in a statement."MAS has censured DBS Bank for the shortcomings and inadequate management oversight by the bank of its outsourced IT systems, networks, operations and infrastructure that resulted in the widespread system outage on 5 July."MAS said DBS had failed to adequately oversee maintenance and operational practices and controls employed by IBM, the US technology giant contracted to manage the systems."The system outage is of grave concern to us and we acknowledge MAS? censure," said the bank's chief executive Piyush Gupta. "Measures to strengthen our technology and risk management controls are also well underway."DBS, which is also the largest bank in Singapore, has almost 80 branches and nearly 1,000 ATMs around the island-state.Last month, the bank reported an unexpected second-quarter net loss of 300 million dollars due to an impairment charge for its Hong Kong business. Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved. More »

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