Kuwait, April 29, 2008: London-based Gatehouse Bank has been licensed to operate by the Financial Service Authority in London, which offers banking, investment and financial services in accordance with Islamic Shariah with a capital of £225 million, it was revealed yesterday.

Chairman and Managing Director of Securities House, Ayman Abdullah Boodai, stated at a press conference on 30th April'08 that the bank will provide services according to Islamic Shariah, by focusing on Islamic capital markets, institutional wealth Islamic treasury business and advisory services.

"Lately, London has emerged as one of the main international centers in the field of providing Islamic financial services, with support of the British Government and the British Central Bank by ratifying their main regulations to facilitate services that comply with Islamic Shariah," said Boodai.

He pointed out that Gatehouse Bank's concern is to hire the most qualified personnel in their respective fields, adding that the Bank's Chief Executive Officer David Testa, who joined the bank recently, boasts extensive experience since 1999 of spearheading and facilitating a wide variety of conventional and Islamic transactions in the GCC.

"One of the most recent achievements of Mr. Testa was the ground-breaking £225m Shariah-compliant leveraged buy-out in the UK of Aston Martin from the Ford Motor Company, as well as a string of high profile transactions in the GCC," said Boodai.

He further explained that the Board of Directors consists of the executive directors David Testa as CEO and the bank's Chief Financial Officer James Bagshawe, who brings with him over 25 years of experience having previously worked for Arab Bank, JP Morgan, Robert Fleming, KPMG and Deloitte.

As for the non-executive independent directors, its members include Mr. Brandon Davies, Chairman of Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee and Senior Independent, Non-Executive Director. Mr. Davies enjoys over 30 years of experience in his field. He also held several senior positions at Barkley Bank.

Matthew Carrington, Chairman of Remuneration Committee, who is also an expert in providing leadership and strategic thinking in areas such as finance, pensions as well as lobbying and public relations. Mr. Carrington is also a former Member of Parliament and Chairman of the Treasury Select Committee, with particular experience in the Middle East.

Mrs. Stella Cox, Member of the Strategy & Business Development Committee, is the Managing Director with the Dawnay Day Group since 1998. She served as a member of the Board of Governors of the UK Institute of Islamic Banking and Insurance and worked as a member in support of the Islamic product and sector development committees formed by the Bahrain Monetary Agency (now the Central Bank of Bahrain) and the Dubai International Financial Centre.

The non-executive directors includes Richard Thomas, who is also GSH UK's managing director and enjoys 28 years of experience in the field of economics, Islamic finance in addition to managing the Islamic Financial Services at Arab Banking Corporation in London.

Fahed Boodai, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GSH Kuwait and Mohammad Tawfiq Al-Tahawi, Assistant Executive Officer for Companies Finances at the Securities House.

Boodai concluded that Gatehouse Bank is strategically located in the heart of the city of London next to the Bank of England, which strengthens its position globally.

Media Contact:
Samah Al-Nughaimesh
samah@gsh.com.kw