- The Icelandic Financial Supervisory Authority (FME) approves Straumur's acquisition of 50% stake in Wood & Company

The Financial Supervisory Authority has approved Straumur-Burdaras Investment
Bank's (“Straumur's”) acquisition of a 50% stake in the Czech investment house
Wood & Company. In June 2007 Straumur acquired a 50% share in Wood, as well as
an option to purchase the remaining shares no later than 2011. The purchase is
subject to, inter alia, the approval of the Central Bank of the Czech Republic. 

Wood & Company is a leading investment house in Central and Eastern Europe. It
offers a full range of securities trading, investment banking services, and
corporate finance services. 



About Straumur

Straumur is the largest investment bank in Iceland. The Bank offers
comprehensive, integrated investment banking services, including capital
markets, corporate finance, debt finance, and asset management services.
Straumur currently employs 336 member of staff. 

About Wood & Company

Wood & Company is a leading independent Central and Eastern European investment
bank offering a full range of securities trading, investment banking services,
and corporate finance services. Wood & Company also offers services related to
privatisation, initial public offerings, capital markets, and mergers and
acquisitions, in addition to its investment banking and corporate finance
services. Its clients include domestic and foreign corporations as well as
domestic issuers and agencies. Wood & Company's headquarters are located in
Prague, and it has operations in Slovakia and Poland as well. It maintains a
staff of 70 employees. The bank is a member of the securities exchanges in
Prague, Vienna, Frankfurt, Warsaw, Bucharest, Ljubljana, and Budapest. In 2006
Wood handled transactions valued at USD 24 billion and was responsible for a
dominant share (approximately 30%) of the trading volume on the Prague Stock
Exchange. Its market share in Central and Eastern Europe was 6.6%. The bank has
been recognised by Euromoney eight times for the excellence of its operations,
including being selected as the best collaborator in the Czech Republic, the
best securities brokerage, and the best domestic securities brokerage in the
Czech Republic. 


Further information can be obtained from:
Jóhanna Vigdís Gudmundsdóttir, Director of Corporate Communications for
Straumur, at +354 840 9133, or by e-mail: johanna@straumur.net 

Haukur Hauksson, Director of Investor Relations for Straumur, at +354 858-6744,
or by e-mail: haukur.hauksson@straumur.net