al khaliji

Doha, 16 December 2008: Tariq Al Malki, Chairman of the Board of Al Khalij Commercial Bank (Q.S.C.) (al khaliji) announced that the Board held a meeting on Tuesday, 2nd December 2008 and passed the following resolutions:

1. To call an Extraordinary General Assembly (EGA) to be held before the end of January 2009, on a date to be agreed with the Ministry of Business and Trade

2. To recommend to the shareholders that they approve at the EGA:

• To increase the share capital of al khaliji by a maximum of 20% (144 million) new ordinary shares, to be issued to Qatar Investment Authority on terms to be agreed by the Board, but at a price equivalent to the DSM average closing price of the Bank's ordinary shares at close of business on Sunday 12th October 2008, of QR11.60. Price to be confirmed by the QIA in due course
• To waive the priority rights of existing shareholders to subscribe for such new shares
• To approve an exception to the 5% maximum ownership limit of the bank's capital in respect of share ownership by the Qatar Investment Authority
• To amend the Articles of Association to allow the issuance of new shares prior to calling for the remaining 50% unpaid portion of existing shares in issue

3. To change the name of BLC (France) S.A. to al khaliji (France) S.A.

4. To approve the increase of US$100 million (c. QR365 million) Tier 1 capital in al khaliji (France) S.A. by way of new capital investment from al khaliji

5. To recommend distribution of nil cash dividend to shareholders in respect of al khaliji's first full accounting period ending 31st December 2008

6. To call an AGA before the end of April 2009, on a date to be agreed by the Ministry of Business and Trade and the DSM

The above resolutions are subject to the approval of the regulatory authorities in the State of Qatar.

Commenting on the resolutions, Tariq Al Malki Chairman of al khaliji said, “31st December 2008 is the end of al khaliji's first full accounting period, so while it is too early in the bank's development to distribute a cash dividend to shareholders, I am delighted to confirm that al khaliji intends to issue new shares to the Qatar Investment Authority, will be using its own resources to increase by US$100 million the capital in our newly acquired bank, al khaliji (France) S.A., and, based on our latest business forecasts, continues to project no need to call for the remaining 50% unpaid portion of capital prior to 2010 at the earliest, unless an extraordinary opportunity to invest that capital arises".

David Proctor, Chief Executive Officer of al khaliji added: “Despite being a new bank, al khaliji is ideally placed to face the global economic crisis and recent declines in global stock markets. al khaliji has the highest capital adequacy ratio and lowest real estate exposure of any bank in Qatar, and has suffered no losses from the recent declines in global equity markets as the bank has no equity investments. Accordingly, we are taking this opportunity to invest some of our available capital in our new, rebranded subsidiary, al khaliji (France) S.A., to support its growth ambitions. The impending new capital investment in al khaliji from the Qatar Investment Authority will also provide us with even more capital strength to take advantage of the rapidly changing circumstances".