Over 60 percent of its lending activities was in Singapore dollars, where DBS maintained its dominant share in most sectors. Credit programmes available to customers include long-term loans offered in fixed and floating rates and short-term loans offered mainly on a floating rate pegged to the local prime or money market rates. To help customers access new channels of funding, DBS was involved in several asset securitisation transactions. It also increased its non-capital-based earnings by building up its capabilities as a major Singapore-dollar service provider. Further progress was made in building a client base for Singapore-dollar clearing services.
DBS was one of three international banks to lead-arrange a US$400 million syndicated loan facility to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the Central Bank of The Philippines. It also lead-arranged project finance facilities for the Dabhol Power Phase II project in India and the Changsha B-O-T power project in China. DBS co-arranged project financing for the Queensland Power Partnership in Australia and acquisition financing for Contact Energy Finance in New Zealand.
DBS continued to secure top ratings from international magazines for the quality and reliability of its custody services. The Asset rated DBS the Number One choice of global custodians for the Singapore market, while Global Custodian reiterated DBS' top-rated status in its annual agent bank survey. DBS was also given star ratings in GSCS Benchmark's annual survey for overall performance, settlement and safekeeping performance for the Singapore market.
Recognising the importance of convenience and affordability to customers, DBS has reorganised internal work processes to increase efficiency. This has facilitated the successful launch of a new TradePlus service for customers requiring quick processing within four hours, compared to the normal 24 hours required. |