FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                               August 17, 2006

CITY WILL SELL $280 MILLION IN WASTEWATER REVENUE BONDS

The City and County of Honolulu is scheduled to sell approximately $279.75 million in wastewater system revenue bonds in New York next Monday and Tuesday (August 21 and 22).

The sale of the Series 2006 A, B and C bonds will finance capital improvements to the City’s wastewater system and generate significant savings for the City and the Department of Environmental Services by refinancing outstanding debt. (Municipalities, states and businesses borrow money by selling bonds. The purchasers are repaid with interest, using future revenues. In this case, those revenues are the sewer fees that the City collects.)

 The interest on these particular bonds will be exempt from state and federal taxes. Maturity periods will range from five to 30 years. The bonds are scheduled to be sold as follows:

·        $196,505,000 Series 2006A

·        $27,795,000 Series 2006B

·        $55,450,000 Series 2006C

UBS Securities LLC is the lead underwriter for this sale. Also participating are 11 selling group members listed below. Bond insurance is expected for this financing.

Expected insured ratings from the top three rating agencies are Moody’s Aaa; Standard &  Poor’s AAA; Fitch AAA. Expected underlying ratings are: Moody’s Aa3; Standard & Poor’s AA–; Fitch AA–.

The bonds will be offered to retail accounts through a pre-sale retail order period on August 21, with an additional opportunity to place orders during the final sale on August  22.

Each investor should read the entire Series 2006A, B & C Preliminary Official Statement prior to making any investment decisions regarding these issues. For further information or to obtain a copy of the preliminary official statement, please contact:

UBS Financial Services, Inc.

(808) 536-4511

(800) 526-8910

A.G. Edwards

(808) 585-6939

Charles Schwab & Co.

(800) 333-6864 ext. 88

Citigroup

(808) 521-2961

(800) 874-2737

Edward Jones

(800) ED-JONES

First Honolulu Securities

(808) 523-9422

Merrill Lynch & Co.

(800) 964-0765

Morgan Stanley

(800) 465-4071

Raymond James

(877) 295-9116

Wachovia Bank, National Association

(800) 368-3793

Wedbush Morgan Securities

 (808) 536-4579

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Contact:

            Mary Pat Waterhouse, Director, Department of Budget and Finance, 523-4617

            Edlyn Taniguchi, Chief of Treasury, 527-5673