HONG KONG (Standard&Poor's) June 8, 2007--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that it had assigned its 'BBB+' issue rating to a proposed 10-year step-up subordinated note issue by The Bank of East Asia, Limited (A-/Stable/A-2). The issue rating is one notch below the long-term counterparty credit rating on the bank to reflect the subordinated status of the proposed U.S. dollar benchmark lower tier II issue. The proceeds will be used for general working capital and capital management purposes. The proposed issue carries a fixed coupon rate until 2012, when it becomes callable. If not called and redeemed, thereafter it offers a variable coupon rate implicitly embedding a 100 basis point step-up. Standard&Poor's regards the notes
