News Release

Ref No: 11/2006

DBS Launches Priority Banking Service In India

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Plans to offer wide range of wealth management and investment product

MUMBAI AND SINGAPORE, 8 MAY 2006 – DBS Bank launched its DBS Treasures Priority Banking service for the high net worth market segment in India.

In addition to corporate and investment banking services, the DBS Mumbai Branch will now also offer a comprehensive suite of services to individuals with a minimum investment of Rs. 25 lakhs (about US$55,500).

DBS Treasures will provide high net worth customers in India with access to a wide range of wealth management and investment products, including mutual funds, insurance, direct equity, bonds and portfolio management services through our partners in India. For example, DBS Bank tied up with Tata AIG Life Insurance to offer its customers Tata AIG Life’s entire range of insurance products through the bancassurance model.

“India is clearly one of the main engines of a resurgent Asia and as a bank born and bred in Asia, we cannot ignore the huge opportunity in this country. Last year, DBS partnered the well-respected Murugappa Group of Chennai in a joint venture to form Cholamandalam DBS Finance Ltd, a leading financial services franchise with over 120 outlets. India is a critical market for us and we have made capital investments of over US$170 million in our operations here, including our investment in Cholamandalam DBS,” said Rajan Raju, DBS’ Managing Director and Head of South & Southeast Asia.

He added that the launch of DBS Treasures in India ties in well with the creation of DBS’ Non Resident Indian business in Singapore and will provide Indian customers with the best of wealth management expertise in Asia.

“Not only will our affluent customers in India gain access to locally relevant products and services, they are also gaining the trusted reliability of our Singapore home base,” he noted.

Designated relationship managers will be on hand to offer personalised services tailored to the customer’s financial needs as DBS believes strongly that clients need to make investment decisions based on their risk appetite, time horizon and individual financial needs. Through our partner CRISIL Fund Services, one of India’s leading and most respected financial research companies, customers will be offered appropriate investments and regular fund performance reviews based on their Composite Performance Rankings.

Pranam Wahi, General Manager & CEO, DBS India, added: “We believe in bringing all the best products and services to India and this launch is a manifestation of our commitment to the Indian market. DBS Treasures will introduce Indian customers to the same high-end banking experience that we are renowned for across Southeast Asia.”

With their DBS Treasures Card, customers will enjoy preferred access to world-class hotels, events & seminars, restaurants and speciality stores not just in India, but in other select countries as well.

DBS has also invested significantly in setting up back-end technologies to provide customers with global service standards, including up-to-the-minute customer profiling and asset allocation mix as well as consolidated statements. This system-driven process allows DBS Treasures to provide customers with high-quality services at every performance review.

Raj Mahadev, Head of Wealth Management, DBS India, explained: “As a group, we believe that service and technology are key differentiators and DBS Treasures delivers this promise. We bring in our regional relationship management model which enables us to keep clients updated proactively, and the technologies that we have invested in permit us to provide comprehensive solutions for our valued clients.”

About DBS

Headquartered in Singapore, DBS is one of the largest financial services groups in Asia with almost five million customers and operations in 15 markets. The largest bank in Singapore and the fifth largest banking group in Hong Kong as measured by assets, DBS’ “AA-” and “Aa2” credit ratings are among the highest in the Asia-Pacific region. DBS has leading 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 China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and The Philippines. More information about DBS Group Holdings and DBS Bank can be obtained from our website www.dbs.com.

About DBS in India

Our presence in India dates back to 1994 when DBS Bank opened a representative office in Mumbai, which was upgraded to a full branch in March 1995. We opened our New Delhi branch in June 2005. From Mumbai and New Delhi, DBS services corporate and institutional clients from all the major cities in India through its advisory relationship team.

As one of Asia’s largest financial services groups, DBS has the resources, expertise and experience to provide a full range of corporate and investment banking services to large corporations, financial institutions as well as SMEs in India.

Working closely with DBS’ headquarters in Singapore, the Bank offers advisory services, trade finance, funding, transactional services and a whole range of treasury solutions.

DBS has extensive experience in providing innovative financial solutions to a number of blue-chip companies in India. A key player in the Asian capital markets, DBS is a well-recognised name in corporate banking, loan syndication and fund-raising. We were No. 3 as mandated arrangers for India syndicated loans in 2005; and broke into the M&A league tables at No. 8 in 2005, the year we launched our full suite of investment banking services in India.

In January 2006, DBS completed a transaction to own a joint controlling stake in Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company Limited, a well-regarded Non-Banking Finance Company based in Chennai. The joint venture Cholamandalam DBS Finance Ltd primarily focuses on both consumer and commercial finance in India. Through its subsidiaries, it has also established a presence in the securities and asset management businesses.