MELBOURNE -- Standard&Poor's CreditWire 7/27/98 -- Standard&Poor's today affirmed its double-'Api' public information rating on The Development Bank of Singapore Ltd. (DBS Bank) following the announcement of its acquisition of the business undertakings of The Post Office Savings Bank of Singapore and Credit POSB Pte. Ltd. (collectively POSBank) from the Singapore government. The acquisition should strengthen the DBS Bank group's business profile, despite some uncertainty regarding DBS Bank's ability to completely retain POSBank's customer franchise, and the slight weakening in DBS Bank's capitalization. The acquisition, expected to be completed by Nov. 30, 1998, should reinforce the DBS Bank group's position as a strong price maker in domestic banking through its sheer size and significant representation in
