HONG KONG (Standard&Poor's) Feb. 21, 2007--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that it had assigned its 'BBB' issue credit rating to a proposed issue of perpetual subordinated notes by The Bank of East Asia, Limited (BEA; A-/Stable/A-2). The proposed issue carries a fixed rate coupon and is callable in 2012; thereafter it offers a floating rate coupon with a one-time interest rate step-up of 100 basis points in 2017, if it is not redeemed before then. The proposed notes are perpetual and callable at par after five years, which Standard&Poor's regards as a "Category 2 Intermediate – Adequate" hybrid instrument. BEA intends the proposed notes to form part of its capital base as an upper
