SINGAPORE - DBS has appointed Joyce Tee its group head of SME banking to oversee the bank's businesses in this area across the region.

Ms Tee will be its first female head of SME banking, DBS noted in its announcement on Wednesday (March 23). She will report to Jeanette Wong, who heads its institutional banking group.

Ms Tee is taking over the reins from Mr Lim Chu Chong, who recently relocated to China to head DBS' institutional banking franchise there.

Building a leading regional SME banking franchise was identified as one of DBS' strategic priorities six years ago. DBS' income from SME banking grew 9 per cent to a record S$1.53 billion in 2015.

Ms Tee began her career providing management consultancy and financial advisory solutions to small businesses and entrepreneurs in the US. After spending 12 years in the US, she returned to Singapore and worked with OCBC Bank's enterprise banking unit for four years, covering the offshore marine and commodities sectors.

She joined DBS in 2004 and most recently headed the bank's shipping, aviation and transportation businesses. Under her leadership, these business lines contributed substantially to the bottomline of the corporate banking franchise, said DBS.

It said that Ms Tee has built trusted relationships with major industry players, including some of the world's largest aircraft lessors, who tap on DBS to diversify their funding sources and access the capital markets in Asia.