This is a Press release made in Singapore Exchange
JOINT MEDIA STATEMENT BY DBS BANK (HONG KONG) AND
JONES LANG LASALLE
Hong Kong, October 5, 2004 - An accident occurred over the weekend
while DBS Bank (Hong Kong) was renovating and expanding its Mei Foo
branch in Kowloon.
As a result, 83 safe deposit boxes in current use were accidentally
removed and destroyed, together with 837 empty safe deposit boxes.
The incident is a matter of great regret and DBS (HK) has spent a
large part of time since Sunday recovering the contents of the
boxes, contacting affected customers, and notifying the
authorities.
DBS (HK) fully recognises the significance to its customers of the
items involved, both financial and personal.
At this stage, DBS (HK) and Jones Lang Lasalle, property consultant
and manager for DBS Group, do not believe this incident is anything
other than a human error during the renovation process.
We have given clear assurances to customers that DBS (HK) and Jones
Lang Lasalle accept responsibility for thoroughly investigating the
accident. An
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international firm that specialises in safe deposit box
installation and removal had been hired to manage the removal, and
our investigation will review that firms actions in connection
with this matter.
DBS (HK) will honour its ultimate responsibilities to affected
customers. It is committed to taking appropriate remedial actions
to ensure that such an unfortunate incident does not happen
again.
DBS (HK) wants to assure all customers that this is an entirely
isolated incident. All other safe deposit boxes and banking
services at Mei Foo and other branches are not affected.
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, 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.
For more information, please contact:
Catherine Ong Gloria Chiu
Managing Director & Head Assistant Vice President
Group Communications Group Communications (HK)
Tel: (65) 96970007 Tel: (852) 93080088
Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]
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