DBS BANK CHINA ALL SET TO COMMENCE BUSINESS

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Presence And Staff Force To Be Enlarged Over Next 5 Years

SINGAPORE, 25 May 2007 – DBS Bank Ltd (DBS) announced today that its local subsidiary in China, DBS Bank (China) Limited (DBS Bank China), will commence business on Monday, 28 May 2007, a week after it received final approval to incorporate locally from the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC).

A fully-owned subsidiary of DBS and headquartered in Shanghai, DBS Bank China was incorporated yesterday with a registered capital of RMB4 billion (USD523 million). DBS is one of the first few foreign banks, and the first Singapore bank, to incorporate in China.

"We are a bank that is born and bred in Asia. Our new status as a locally incorporated bank in China extends DBS' ambition to be an Asia banking specialist and enables us to better serve our customers in and outside China. Through DBS Bank China, we hope to share DBS' diversity, corporate governance and risk management capabilities. These elements underpin our "AA-" and "Aa1" credit ratings which are among the highest in Asia", said Jackson Tai, Vice Chairman and CEO of DBS Group Holdings and Supervisor of DBS Bank China.

Frank Wong, Vice Chairman of DBS Bank and Chairman of DBS Bank (Hong Kong) Limited, has been appointed Chairman of DBS Bank China. He said: "Today marks a new milestone for DBS in China. We would like to express our heartfelt appreciation to the CBRC and other regulators for their support. The establishment of DBS Bank China underscores our long-term commitment to this market. We are confident that with our Asia banking expertise and local insights, DBS Bank China is well-placed to meet the banking needs of companies as well as individuals."

Teresa Lin, DBS' Managing Director and Joint Group Head of Corporate & Investment Banking, a veteran banker with over 30 years' experience, will assume the role of Vice Chairman and CEO, DBS Bank China. Lin joined DBS in 2001 and has been instrumental in growing DBS' corporate and enterprise banking business across Asia.

The inaugural board meeting of DBS Bank China will be held later today. The board will be chaired by Frank Wong and the other directors are:-

• Mr. John Alan Ross, former Corporate Chief Operating Officer of the Deutsche Bank Group, and a board member of DBS Group Holdings
• Mr. Christopher Cheng, Chairman of USI Holdings Limited, and a board member of DBS Bank (Hong Kong) Limited
• Prof. Lu Xiongwen, Dean of the School of Management of Shanghai Fudan University
• Mrs. Teresa Lin, Vice Chairman and CEO, DBS Bank China
• Mr. Jethro Lau, Deputy CEO, DBS Bank China
• Mr. Andy So, Head of Risk Management – Greater China, DBS Bank (Hong Kong) Limited

DBS Bank China will strengthen its presence in the Mega Beijing cluster, Yangtze River Delta, Fu-Xia Cluster and the Pearl River Delta over the next few years. It will expand its existing branch network in Shanghai, Suzhou, Beijing, Shenzhen and Guangzhou into an integrated branch network that offers enterprise banking, corporate banking, investment banking and consumer banking services. The bank also intends to upgrade its representative offices to branches as soon as possible, subject to regulatory approval.

Lin said: "At DBS, we recognise that banking is a people business. To offer quality service to our customers, we plan a five-fold increase in staff strength to 2,000 over the next five years. We will continue to invest aggressively in staff training programmes so that our customers in China can count on our expertise, professionalism and efficiency when banking with DBS."

"We will adopt a holistic approach to meeting and responding to customer needs. We will complement our brick-and-mortar touch points with phone banking, internet banking and customer service centres. In addition, we will develop strategic alliances to bring our partners' resources to our customers", added Lin.

DBS will leverage its Asia banking expertise and experience in corporate banking, consumer banking and wealth management to meet the increasingly sophisticated financial needs of customers in China. Upon approval from the regulators, DBS Bank China plans to roll out a comprehensive range of RMB services.