In its treasury operations,
the Bank continued to be a leading force in the domestic arena. Our
leadership position in Singapore dollar-denominated spot and forward
transactions was maintained, despite the regional currency crisis.
Further building on its reputation as the first choice of Singapore
corporate treasurers for foreign exchange transactions, the Bank
continued to broaden its marketing coverage to provide treasury products
and services to small and medium-sized businesses.
We also played a key role in the further development
of the domestic corporate bond markets, leveraging on our distribution
capabilities in the debt capital markets. During 1998, we successfully
placed six primary Singapore dollar bond issues, including the first
Singapore dollar supranational bond issue for the International Finance
Corporation and the first corporate bond issued via a tender system by
Jurong Town Corporation.
