The BOC Group (consisting of BOC International Holdings Limited (BOCI) and Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited), Merrill Lynch and HSBC will be the arrangers and joint global co-ordinators for the proposed offering of $20 billion worth of government bonds.

BOC Group and Merrill Lynch were originally selected following a competitive selection exercise. They recommended that HSBC also be appointed as arranger and joint global co-ordinators for the offering.

The three firms will assist the Government in the offering's preparation and execution. It will be in three parts �V Hong Kong dollar retail, Hong Kong dollar institutional and US dollar international. The arrangers and joint global co-ordinators have recommended, and the Government has accepted, the following firms as joint lead managers and bookrunners:

* BOC Group, HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank for the Hong Kong dollar retail offering;

* BOC International Holdings Limited, Citigroup, HSBC and Merrill Lynch for the Hong Kong dollar institutional offering; and

* BOC International Holdings Limited, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley for the US dollar international offering.