eariler report of his deteriorating
The medical condition of the CEO of Singapore's DBS Bank,
Mr Richard Stanley, has taken a sudden turn for the worse.
A statement from the bank on Friday said Mr Stanley's condition has
deteriorated rapidly in the last 24 hours and he is now in critical
care.
Mr Stanley was diagnosed with leukaemia in late January and had
been responding well to treatment.
After two rounds of chemotherapy, earlier this week, his doctors
believed his cancer was in remission.
Unfortunately, the statement added, the unpredictability of the
disease has led to severe complications due to infection.
Mr Stanley had taken a leave of absence for 3-6 months since he was
diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukaemia, a cancer of the blood
and bone marrow.
During the Lunar New Year earlier this year, Mr Stanley had sought
treatment for what appeared to be ordinary flu-like symptoms after
experiencing a cough and high fever.
According to doctors, this type of cancer can affect people across
all age groups.
Symptoms of the disease include tiredness, bone pains, fever and
bruising.
During Mr Stanley's absence, his duties at DBS are being covered by
the bank's chairman Koh Boon Hwee.
Mr Koh had acted in a similar capacity previously when he took on
an active management oversight role in DBS from September 2007 to
April 2008, prior to Mr Stanley's appointment.
At the company's annual and extraordinary general meeting on April
7, Mr Koh had told shareholders that Mr Stanley was on track to
return to work.
He had also said that Mr Stanley's absence would not affect DBS'
business and that strategic decisions were still being made
daily.
Some analysts told Channel NewsAsia they agree with the view that
the lender's business continuity will not be affected.
They said DBS' strong management structure will help the bank tide
over the current crisis.
In Thursday trade, DBS shares ended up 4.8 per cent at S$8.91,
tracking the broad gains in Asian markets