DBS BANK COMPLETES POSBANK AND CREDIT POSB ACQUISITION

COMBINED RESOURCES WILL RESULT IN LARGEST RETAIL BANK IN SINGAPORE

November 16, 1998 – DBS Bank announces today the completion of its acquisition of the business undertaking of POSBank and its subsidiaries for S$1.6 billion, consolidating DBS Bank’s position as Southeast Asia’s largest bank and the largest retail bank in Singapore.

"After the acquisition, we will be uniquely positioned to meet the needs of all customers who will have convenient access to the expertise and range of products and services they require," said DBS Bank Chairman, Mr S. Dhanabalan.

He added, "We will be the quality resource for the banking, borrowing, investment and insurance needs of all customers, from the young Singaporeans opening their first accounts, to those who need the most sophisticated and comprehensive banking products and services."

With the completion of the acquisition, POSBank is now a new retail division of DBS Bank. Operations of both banks will be integrated in phases. Customers will then have access to a wider branch and ATM network and enjoy a wide range of financial products and services. From today, customers can perform cash withdrawal, transfer of funds and account balance enquiry at about 900 ATMs within the combined ATM network. Customers can also place S$ fixed deposits at 11 POSBank Services branches.

Mr Dhanabalan also said that more integrated benefits will be offered to customers in due course. They will be introduced in phases and customers will be notified either through advertisements or mailings. In the meantime, customers can still conduct their banking transactions as before.

The purchase consideration of S$1.6 billion will be satisfied in full through the issue of 224,764,875 new non-voting convertible preference shares, which will be convertible into an equivalent number of ordinary shares. 60% will be local shares and 40% foreign shares. Approval-in-principle has been obtained from the Stock Exchange of Singapore for the listing and quotation of the new ordinary shares.