DBS Wins 'Best Singapore Dollar Bond House' And 'Best Local Equity House' Awards

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Bags two out of five country awards from FinanceAsia's Annual Country Awards 2001

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Also Ranked Second In Asia In Market Capitalisation In
Seperate Financeasia Research

SINGAPORE, SEP 5 - FinanceAsia, a highly regarded financial magazine in the region and the winner of the Society of Asian Publishers Award in 2001, has named DBS the "Best Singapore Dollar Bond House" and the "Best Local Equity House" in Singapore in its Country Awards For Achievement 2001.

According to FinanceAsia, DBS won the "Best Singapore Dollar Bond House" award for its dominant position in the ever-expanding Singapore dollar bond market and for an outstanding year of performance. In 2001, DBS helped SingTel with its acquisition of Optus in Australia by leading a five-year, S$1 billion issue. Another megadeal was one for DBS' own financing of its Dao Heng Bank acquisition. This saw DBS upsize a S$600 million non-cumulative preference share deal to S$1.1 billion. FinanceAsia also noted that another landmark was the largest ever asset securitisation, the S$984 million issue for Tincel which was based on receivables from the Raffles City Complex. These deals helped DBS gain an increasingly strong reputation as a key builder and dominant player in the Singapore dollar bond market.

In the local equities house category which is designed for local brokerage houses and looks primarily at their brokerage turnover and research output, DBS earned the "Best Local Equity House" award for its position in the market. With its forthcoming merger with Vickers Ballas (to be called DBS Vickers Securities), the new entity will be Singapore's broking powerhouse. This strength was further augmented by the acquisition of Lum Chang Securities. DBS has over 500 trading representatives and well publicised intentions of becoming a regional player.

In a separate ranking of the top 20 banks in Asia jointly conducted by FinanceAsia and UBS Warburg, DBS has emerged second in terms of market capitalisation, with Hang Seng Bank topping the list. This is the first time FinanceAsia has ranked the region's banks.

Said Mr Steven Irvine, Editor of FinanceAsia, who was in Singapore to present the award yesterday, "These awards recognise the great advances that DBS has made in investment banking in the past few years. With its merger with Vickers Ballas, the dominance in the securities business is further ensured."

Mr Philippe Paillart, CEO of DBS commented, "We are honoured to be conferred these awards. They are a testimony of the market's recognition of DBS' capabilities and leadership. More importantly, they demonstrate our unwavering commitment to deliver excellent services of world-class standards to our corporate and individual customers. Going forward, we will continue to focus on serving our customers to the best of our abilities. We will achieve these through continual investments in technology, human capital and expansion of innovative product offerings that will enhance our market position and regional bank stature overseas."

FinanceAsia is the region's leading journal which analyses trends in Asia's capital markets, corporate finance, M&A and treasury markets by adding deep editorial insight to the headline facts and figures. Targeted at institutional investors, company CEOs and CFOs, and financial intermediaries, FinanceAsia aims to help these decision makers stay abreast of current business developments, track industry and competitive trends, make informed investment decisions and manage their financial assets.

DBS Group Holdings Ltd is the holding company of DBS Bank and is the largest banking group in Southeast Asia. DBS Bank is ranked among the top banks in Asia. A recognised leader in Internet banking and e-commerce, DBS is the market leader in Singapore-dollar loans and deposits, and equity fund raising. Beyond Singapore, DBS Group serves corporate, institutional and retail customers through subsidiaries and associated companies in Hong Kong, The Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand, and international banking services through a network of overseas branches and offices. With its acquisition of Dao Heng Bank in June, 2001, DBS is the fourth largest bank in Hong Kong by assets.