Standard & Poor's Reaffirms DBS' Ratings, Removes DBS From Negative Watch

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Moody's Affirms DBS's Debt And Preference Share Ratings

SINGAPORE, JUNE 24 - Both Moody's Investor Services ("Moody's") and Standard and Poor's ("S&P ") have affirmed the debt and preference share ratings of Development Bank of Singapore Ltd. ("DBS Bank"). The ratings agencies' action follows DBS Bank's announced bid for Overseas Union Bank.

S&P removed DBS Bank from their credit watch and affirmed it's long term senior debt ratings of A +. S&P had put DBS on their credit watch on April 11, 2001 following the proposed acquisition of Dao Heng Bank in Hong Kong.

Moody's has simultaneously affirmed DBS Bank's preference share ratings and its senior debt rating as Aa3 and Aa2 respectively.

"We are very pleased with the action taken by both Moody's and S&P and see this as a reaffirmation of our policy of working hard for all our stakeholders: our customers, our shareholders as well as our debtholders. Having strong ratings is very important to us and we are proud to be one of the highest rated bank's in Asia", said Jackson Tai, President and Chief Operating Officer of DBS.

Jackson Tai, commenting on Moody's placing of DBS Bank's Financial Strength Rating on review for a possible downgrade, said:

"Moody's has just recently been changing its FS Ratings classifications, which resulted in an upgrade of DBS. We have been maintaining a very good dialogue with Moody's over the years and will carefully review with them any potential issues.

"We understand that Moody's is positive about the long-term synergies from our purchase of OUB, but they have some concerns about the execution of the integration. As we mentioned when we announced the offer, DBS has some of the most experienced and seasoned managers in the business who will drive the integration. We are very confident we can integrate OUB quickly, effectively and seamlessly. We look forward to addressing Moody's concerns on these issues.

"We are also pleased that Moody's has made a point of saying that the acquisition of OUB would be beneficial and that the offer will enhance our equity base. We agree," concluded Mr. Tai.

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Responsibility Statement

The Directors of DBS Holdings Ltd (including those who have delegated detailed supervision of this announcement) have taken all reasonable care to ensure that the facts stated and opinions expressed in this announcement are fair and accurate, and that no material facts have been omitted from this announcement, and they jointly and severally accept responsibility accordingly.