DBS Group Holdings chief executive Richard Stanley has defended the bank's sale of now worthless products linked to bankrupt Lehman Brothers - in his first public comments on the furore.

'DBS would never knowingly do anything that will hurt customers,' Mr Stanley said, speaking at the release of DBS' third-quarter results on Friday.

He said when DBS sold the High Notes 5 product and Constellation Notes in Hong Kong, 'the world was a vastly different place'.

'Everywhere, people were seeking higher yields. As a financial institution, we believed we were serving our customers by facilitating and structuring High Notes and Constellation Notes with high quality names ... names that no one ever thought would default,' he said.

Mr Stanley, an ex-Citibanker, who took over the reins at DBS only six months ago, said the episode has been 'extremely painful' for DBS.

'I've seen our relationship managers - grown men and women - in tears as they broke the bad news to their clients.'

However, he added that the bank will still 'do the right thing; balancing our fiduciary duties to customers and shareholders alike'.

Read the full story in Saturday's edition of The Straits Times.