Canary Wharf Group plc ("Canary Wharf") today announces that it has signed an Agreement for Lease with international law firm Allen & Overy for approximately 78,000 square feet of office space in the new 32 storey tower, 40 Bank Street (formerly HQ3), currently under construction at Heron Quays.

Construction work on the building is at an advanced level, with the core and structure completed and the final stage of cladding taking place. It is a comprehensively engineered, high specification building, specifically designed to be multi-tenanted, and to provide medium sized occupiers with the same level of operational security, technology and resilience normally associated with large-scale single-occupier buildings. 40 Bank Street is scheduled for completion in March 2003.

Designed by Cesar Pelli, the building has a link to the underground retail mall, Jubilee Place, which is also under construction. The retail mall will link to the Jubilee Line Station and to the newly rebuilt Heron Quays Docklands Light Railway Station. The building is flanked by two winter gardens and will overlook the 4-5 acre Jubilee Park.

John Rink, Managing Partner, Allen & Overy said:

"This deal demonstrates our long-term commitment to Canary Wharf by securing such first class accommodation. This will mean that we can continue to work closely with many of our major clients who also have offices at Canary Wharf. We already of course enjoy the temporary space which we took several months ago in the Citigroup Tower at Canada Square and look forward to moving to the larger space which we have now secured at Heron Quays".

George Iacobescu, Chief Executive, Canary Wharf Group plc, said:

"Canary Wharf Group have an excellent relationship with Allen & Overy, that goes back many years. We are delighted to be welcoming such a high calibre firm to the development, where they will join our growing roster of professional services firms."
- ends -

For further information please contact:

For Canary Wharf Group plc

Wendy Timmons
Head of Corporate Communications
Tel: 020 7537 5025
For Allen & Overy

Iain Rodger
Head of Public Relations
Tel: 020 7330 4947