DBS has introduced multidisciplinary Alpha squads within its legal and compliance function as growing regulatory complexity pushes the bank to break down internal silos.
The Business Times reported that the programme, launched last July, groups legal, compliance and financial crime specialists into 10 five-member teams to handle matters that increasingly cut across those areas.
The model is meant to simplify internal coordination by reducing the number of teams stakeholders need to engage on a single issue.
That has become more relevant as questions involving sanctions, digital assets and financial crime increasingly span multiple functions.
Alpha team members also have access to a shared knowledge base covering legal, compliance and financial crime matters that can be used with generative AI tools.
They are also able to build and deploy agents to support their work more efficiently.
Among the tools already in use are agents that help negotiate standard terms with third-party suppliers and systems that classify corporate customers into anti-money laundering risk categories.
Elsewhere in the wider function, AI is being used for anti-scam fraud detection and for drafting suspicious transaction reports.
Alpha Forms Part of DBS’ Reskilling Effort
Alpha was one of nine operating model transformation projects completed by DBS in 2025.
The broader effort is aimed at redesigning workflows around AI while equipping employees with the skills needed to adapt to those changes.
Lam Chee Kin, DBS’ Managing Director and Head of Legal and Compliance, indicated that the programme could be expanded further, depending on how ready individual teams and markets are for the shift.
Beyond efficiency, Alpha also forms part of DBS’ wider effort to manage workforce transition as AI changes how work is done.
In February 2025, DBS indicated that around 4,000 contract and temporary roles could be reduced over three years through natural attrition as AI takes over some tasks previously handled by humans, while permanent staff were not affected.
Lam also linked the shift to broader questions about the future of the legal profession, including how lawyers are trained and assessed in an AI-driven environment.
DBS is also partnering the Singapore Courts and the Singapore Academy of Law on the 2026 Hackathon for a Better World, which begins on 27 April and will address cross-border legal capability, responsible AI use and the long-term sustainability of legal practice.
Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by FestArt via Freepik
