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DBS Bank & Standard Chartered Bank launch Inaugural Singapore Dollar Bond for Cathay Pacific Airways

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S$225Million 5-year Notes Priced At 3.0575%

SINGAPORE, February 22, 2005 - DBS Bank and Standard Chartered Bank have jointly launched a S$225 million 5-year Fixed Rate Note issue for Cathay Pacific Airways Limited ("Cathay"), the home carrier of Hong Kong. The Notes are issued by Cathay’s wholly owned subsidiary, CPA Finance (Cayman) Limited and fully guaranteed by Cathay.

The S$225 million issue matures in February 2010 and has been priced at a coupon of 3.0575% p.a., payable semi-annually. This is an inaugural fund raising exercise in the Singapore Dollar bond market by Cathay Pacific Airways.

The Bond issue is jointly lead-managed by DBS Bank Ltd ("DBS Bank") and Standard Chartered Bank ("Standard Chartered").

The issue received strong demand from institutional and sophisticated investors in Singapore and Hong Kong and was about 1.7 times oversubscribed.

Keith Fung, General Manager of Corporate Finance, Cathay Pacific Airways Limited, said: "The Singapore dollar bond issue represents a diversification of funding opportunities in a new market for Cathay. We are pleased with the strong demand from investors in this financing which reflects confidence in our credit".

Stephen Finch, Managing Director of Debt Capital Markets at DBS Bank, said: "Cathay Pacific is a leading airline with excellent brand recognition and strong profitability, and is an ideal candidate for the Singapore dollar bond market. This issue highlights Singapore’s growing importance as a regional funding centre and a gateway to Asean investors. In recent years, the bond market here has grown in depth and liquidity and we expect it will continue to attract more issuers of similar calibre as Cathay Pacific."

Ling Peng Meng, Managing Director, Head of Singapore Fixed Income, Standard Chartered Bank, added: "Cathay’s S$ issuance represents an important milestone in the development of the Singapore bond market as the majority of offshore issuers who had tapped the S$ bond market are from Europe and US, and only about 7% are Asian issuers. Given that there has recently been a series of initiatives like the Asian Bond Fund, it is very encouraging to have Asian issuers tapping cross-border into each other’s debt markets."

The bonds, targeted to settle on 23 February 2005 will be listed on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited and cleared through The Central Depository Pte Ltd ("CDP").

About DBS

Headquartered in Singapore, DBS is one of the largest financial services groups in Asia. The largest bank in Singapore and the fifth largest banking group in Hong Kong as measured by assets, DBS has dominant positions in consumer banking, treasury and markets, asset management, securities brokerage, equity and debt fund raising. Beyond the anchor markets of Singapore and Hong Kong, DBS serves corporate, institutional and retail customers through its operations in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, India and The Philippines. In China, the bank has branches and representative offices in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Fuzhou, Tianjin and Dongguan. The Bank's credit ratings are among the highest in the Asia-Pacific region. More information about DBS Group Holdings and DBS Bank can be obtained from our website www.dbs.com.

About Standard Chartered

Standard Chartered employs 33,000 people in over 550 locations in more than 50 countries in the Asia Pacific Region, South Asia, the Middle East, Africa, the United Kingdom and the Americas. Standard Chartered PLC is listed on both the London Stock Exchange and the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong and is in the top 25 FTSE-100 companies, by market capitalisation. It serves both Consumer and Wholesale Banking customers. Standard Chartered's Asian Fixed Income team has a strong track record in Asia, winning prestigious awards including "Best Debt House in Singapore" from Euromoney and "Best Asian Currency Bond House" from The Asset, in 2004.