(May 6, 2004, Taipei) Bank SinoPac announces the inauguration of the Continuous Linked Settlement system, in cooperation with Citibank Taiwan, and becomes the first bank in Taiwan utilizing Citibank's CLS Settlement Service. The collaboration will boost Bank SinoPac's exchange clearing operation and hence reinforcing its competitiveness in the international market of foreign exchange.

Angus Chen, President of Bank SinoPac, said, “We are very pleased that the CLS system is operational three months ahead of schedule. This won't be possible without the assistance of Citibank, comprehensive project planning and execution, as well as the great efforts of the foreign exchange and IT staff of Bank SinoPac.”

Jerry Chen, Vice President and Group Head of Financial Institutions Group and Global Transaction Services Group of Citibank, indicated that CLS was launched on November 4, 2002, and most of the major foreign exchange banks are now in the CLS network. Citibank is the market leader in foreign exchange and the co-founder of the CLS. In addition, as high as 23% of global CLS settlement volume from third-party banks goes through Citibank, the highest percentage in the world.

Bank SinoPac is a leading player in the banking sector in Taiwan. With Citibank's CLS Settlement Service, Bank SinoPac will reduce the settlement risk of foreign exchange, simplify relevant processes, and improve efficiency. Bank Sinopac is the first Taiwanese client of Citibank's CLS Settlement Service, and several others are now in talks with Citibank on the implementation of CLS.

Banks with CLS capability can now operate with eleven currencies: USD, GBP, EUR, CAD, SFR, JPY, AUD, SGD, DEK, SEK and NOK. As planned, HKD, KRW, NZD and ZAR will be added later this year.

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