AFS appoints new Chief Executive Officer

Manama-Bahrain- 27 July 2007

Arab Financial Services Company BSC (c) (AFS) has appointed Shankar Sharma as the new Chief Executive Officer following the resignation of Rasool Hujair. Shankar, currently the Chief Financial Officer, will take on this new role with immediate effect to provide a seamless transition within the management team.

“During the last two and a half years Rasool has led the company with great passion and enthusiasm which is reflected in AFS’s position in the market today. Since 2005 the company has grown significantly and that can be attributed to Rasool’s leadership as well as our great people and clients,” said Ghazi Abdul-Jawad, Chairman of Board of Directors, AFS.

“I arrived at AFS at the end of 2004 with a job to do, to transform the company by enhancing its core capabilities and improve its value proposition. In the last two and a half years, with the support of the Board, the staff and our clients we have grown the business. I believe that the company is on the right path and I am confident it will go from strength to strength and as such I feel now is the right time to move on to a new challenge,” said Rasool Hujair.

“It was with regret that we accepted Rasool’s resignation but thank him for the legacy he leaves behind. To appoint the new CEO from within the organisation shows our strength in depth. The continuity in the management of AFS is key and we are delighted to announce Shankar Sharma as CEO,” continued Ghazi Abdul-Jawad.

Shankar Sharma has more than 20 years experience in the financial sector mostly in the Middle East region. In the last four years Shankar has held the role of Chief Financial Officer at AFS. Prior to that, he held a senior management role at the National Commercial Bank, Saudi Arabia for five years and spent four years working for a leading European Bank in Canada.

“I am delighted to take on the role of CEO. Having been on the management team for the past four years I am well placed to continue the progress we have made and look forward to working in partnership with our clients to continually improve the range and quality of services that we provide,” explained Mr. Sharma, Chief Executive Officer, AFS. “We remain on course to realise our vision, to become the region’s most trusted and respected provider of electronic payment and consumer leading outsourcing services.”