OREANDA-NEWS. October 19, 2009. Michael Eggleton is appointed the Chairman of the Board by resolution of the Board of Directors of “Eurasian Bank” JSC.

Despite the change of the Bank’s leadership the top-management’s key focus will be on the consistency of the current business plan to continue to grow the Bank in this difficult operating environment.

Mr.Eggleton and the current management team plan to continue with the growth of both lending as well as deposit products; thus maintaining its current leadership position. However, the main focus of the Bank’s management will continue to be the development of customer service while managing expenses and risk aggressively.

"I look forward to joining Eurasian Bank as Chairman and working with the management team to further develop the Bank while integrating international standards in the operations. Having been responsible for banks in many countries of the world I can note the opportunity in Kazakhstan and the region is significant. I am confident that we will be able to deliver further success", - stated Mr. Eggleton.

As an integral part of the Eurasian group of companies, the shareholders remain fully committed to the financial arm of their holdings anchored by the Bank. It is due to this level of commitment that Mr.Eggleton has joined the Bank as the Chairman.

Until recently M. Eggleton held the position of Independent Non Executive Director of ENRC.

"Having worked as an independent director at ENRC, I have a great deal of confidence in the shareholders of the Group and their drive for financial success, transparency and corporate governance as well as their ongoing commitment to Kazakhstan. The Bank is well placed to continue growing its business and maintaining its market leadership even in this time of this global crisis", - emphasized Mr. Eggleton.

Aleksandr Machkevitch, one of the Founding Shareholders and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Eurasian Bank said "The Shareholders of the Bank are very pleased that Mr Eggleton has joined the Bank as its Chairman. It is clear that the level of professionalism required in today’s global financial system must be at the highest standard regardless of location. Kazakhstan has shown to be part of an interconnected global system and thus we need to strive to be one of the best banks as compared to both our international and local peers. The shareholders are committed to develop the Bank in this volatile market and with the new era of the leadership of Mr Eggleton we are well placed to achieve our targets but in a controlled and disciplined manner. "

During his almost 20 years of experience in financial services Mr. Eggleton worked in such international financial institutions as Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse. Over the years, he has held the position of Chairman/CEO of banks in Turkey, Egypt and Russia.

According to unaudited data the assets of Eurasian Bank over the period from 01.01.2009 to 01.10.2009 increased from 272 001 089 thous. tenge to 337 665 528 thous. tenge (i.е. by 24%), thus equity capital for the same period increased from 25 522 934 thous. tenge to 27 679 027 thous. tenge (by 8%). The Bank’s deposit portfolio for the reporting period grew from 134 933 940 thous. tenge tо 225 060 000 thous. tenge (by 67%). Loan portfolio for the first three quarters of 2009 grew from 124 959 323 thous. tenge to 152 022 230 thous. tenge (by 22%).