BHF Kleinwort Benson Appoints New Chairman


BRUSSELS, Belgium, April 22, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BHF Kleinwort Benson Group (the "Company" or "BHF KB") announces today that Gerd Häusler will take over from Konstantin Graf von Schweinitz as Chairman of the Company's Board of Directors (the "Board") effective 22 April 2015. Gerd Häusler was appointed as an independent member of the Board on 24 February 2015 and previously served on the Board from October 2008 until June 2013. Graf von Schweinitz will remain a member of the Board and in addition will become Chairman of Kleinwort Benson based in London.

Further Information

Directors' Biographies

Mr Häusler has over 35 years' international banking and financial markets experience, most recently as CEO of Bayerische Landesbank (2010-2014) and, prior to that, as non-executive Deputy Chairman and Chairman of the Risk Committee of Bayerische Landesbank (2009-2010). Mr Häusler was Counsellor and Director of the International Capital Markets Department of the IMF (2001-2006), responsible for all financial markets-related work. After two years as Vice Chairman and Managing Director at Lazard, he served as a member of the Board of BHF KB from 2008 to 2013 and as Senior Advisor to BHF KB from 2008 until 2010. Mr Häusler was a member of the Board of Managing Directors of Dresdner Bank AG in Frankfurt (1996 to 2000) and Chairman of Dresdner Kleinwort Benson in London (1997 to 2000). During the first 18 years of his career Mr Häusler held various positions at Deutsche Bundesbank, latterly on the Executive Board and the Central Bank Council (1994-1996). He has served as non-executive director at various companies, most recently Munich Re, and has been a member of the Group of Thirty, a think tank on international economic and monetary affairs, since 1996. Mr Häusler was a non-executive member of the Board from October 2008 until June 2013, and served as Chairman and independent member of the Board of Directors of Kleinwort Benson Group Limited from April 2014 until December 2014.

Graf von Schweinitz, appointed as an independent member of the Board in June 2011 and as Chairman in June 2014, has 30 years of investment banking experience, principally in capital markets and risk management. He has been a member of the Board of Directors of Kleinwort Benson Bank since July 2010 and a member of BHF-BANK's Supervisory Board since March 2014. Until March 2007, he spent 19 years within the investment banking divisions of Dresdner Bank and Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein. During this time, he worked in various roles including derivatives trading, hedge fund management and as Chief Operating Officer of Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein UK, before becoming Chief Risk Officer of Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein and Head of Risk Management Investment Banking. He was also the Deputy Chairman of Dresdner Group's Credit Committee and a member of Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein's Executive Committee. From 1982 to 1988, he worked at The Chase Manhattan Bank where he headed the European Swap Group. Since 2007 Graf von Schweinitz has been an independent advisor to hedge funds, banks and private equity companies. He holds a BA and MA from Oxford University.

Contact Details

For further information,
please contact
Katia Levy-Thevenon
Director of Investor Relations and Communications

t: +32 (0)2 643 60 13
e: klevy@bhfkleinwortbenson.com

About BHF Kleinwort Benson Group SA

BHF Kleinwort Benson (Euronext: BHFKB) is a limited liability company incorporated under the laws of Belgium, having its registered office at Avenue Louise 326, 1050 Brussels, Belgium. BHF Kleinwort Benson is a merchant bank with principal activities in private banking, asset management and financial markets & corporates.

 For further information visit: www.BHFKleinwortBenson.com

This press release contains or may contain certain forward-looking statements concerning the Company's operations, economic performance and financial condition.  Such forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations, estimates and projections and are subject to a number of assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.   The Company has no obligation to publicly update or release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release.

Full Press Release (PDF) http://hugin.info/135946/R/1913410/683317.pdf

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