DBS Securities Launches Online Brokerage Service

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Customers can access award-winning research reports and manage personal portfolio online

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Security standards for dbssecurities.com higher than most in brokerage industry

Singapore - Sept 19, 2000 - DBS Securities (DBSS) announced the launch of its new web-site www.dbssecurities.com to meet the demands of its increasingly technology-savvy customer base. The new online trading service is an integral part of the retail brokerage strategy that will provide customers an additional channel for their investment needs.

"Our new website not only provides a trading platform, but also access to the investment market news and research and a wealth of investment information, " said Chong Chin Cheong, Managing Director, DBS Securities Pte Ltd.

"In the self-directed investment approach, it is the experience in many advanced market places that customers may find it useful to speak to their broker to "flag-out' investment ideas, especially when research coverage become very wide. Customers will find it value-add when they discuss with their broker to 'validate' the investment decision they have made," continued Chong. "Under such scenario, the broker's role is moving out from being short-term market oriented order taker to one that will focus on adding value proposition to their customer investment process."

Said Chong: "By combining people and technology, we aim to create a new model of Full-Service Electronic Brokerage. The concept of Full-Service Electronic Brokerage is to offer customers an integrated brokerage service through different channels."

For now, customers can trade SGX stocks online, access the DBS award winning research reports from rated analysts, get market information, and monitor their own investment portfolio. The site will continue to expand and new features such as IPO offerings, regional research reports, news alerts will go live this year and multi-market access will be available sometime next year.

The site has 128-bite encryption, and the security standard is higher than most in the industry. "When we build this channel, we build with the capacity to scale for very high transaction volume. Parallel to this, we are also investing in system and technology to achieve straight-through-processing as this is crucial to any online business. Customer experience will be our first priority, and we will continue to collect customer feedback and develop our content on some of their comments." Chong said. "This way, customers will enjoy a substantial savings on commission when they trade online."

A well-established Customer Service Center as well as a pool of dealers will be on hand to cater to customers who may need assistance on various areas. "A lot of times, customers will call their dealers to get a quick update of the market, validate their investment ideas, and then place a trade via the web in their own privacy." Chong said.

DBSS targets to have at least 20,000 online customers by end of next year. The new online brokerage service will form part of DBS Group-wide E-Commerce initiatives. DBSS will continue to look at new technology enablers to service their customers needs. "Aside from the online brokerage service, we will continue to look at new distribution channels. We will explore M-Commerce strategies as this will be the next wave of new technology." Chong concluded.

About DBS Securities

DBS Securities, voted Singapore's Best Domestic Securities House (EuroMoney Awards for Excellence, 2000), is a member of the Singapore Exchange and one of the country's leading securities houses. DBS Securities is the securities arm of DBS Group, the largest banking group in Southeast Asia.

The DBS Securities has full stockbroking licenses in Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and India as well as offices in Malaysia and London. DBS Securities' expansion presence in the region assures the ability to provide our clients with in-depth research and expertise on the local and regional economies and financial markets.

DBS Securities Singapore provides a broad range of services which include block trading, share placement, provision of corporate and economic research, nominee and securities custodial service. DBS Securities has been an active player in the distribution of primary and secondary issues undertaken by the DBS Bank in Singapore and regional capital markets.