Paris, 11 February, 2009 - On 4 February 2009, Emporiki's Board of Directors approved a plan to boost and accelerate the transformation of the bank, alongside the €850 million capital increase announced on the same day.

As part of Emporiki's new strategic direction, on 26th February, Crédit Agricole S.A. will propose that the Board strengthen its senior management team.

At this forthcoming Board meeting, Crédit Agricole S.A. will propose the appointment of Alain Strub as Emporiki's CEO and Anthony Crontiras as Chairman of the Board, replacing Jean-Frédéric de Leusse who has taken up new responsibilities within Crédit Agricole S.A.

The main aspects of Emporiki's transformation will be presented in detail mid-2009.


BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS

Alain Strub
Former CEO of the Regional Banks, Alain Strub has spent his entire career at Crédit Agricole, working in all areas of retail banking and managing several mergers between the Regional Banks.
In 1977, Mr Strub joined the Marketing and Sales department of the Loiret Regional Bank. He then became project manager for the Internal Audit department of CNCA (Caisse Nationale de Crédit Agricole) between 1982 and 1986.
Subsequently, he was appointed head of the Branch and IT department at the Loiret Regional Bank (1986-1990), and Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Beauce-et-Perche Regional Bank, which became the Val de France Regional Bank (1990-1997) after the merger. He was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Touraine-Poitou Regional Bank in 1998.
In 2004, he joined Crédit Agricole S.A.'s Regional Banks division as Head of Regional Bank Development.
On 1 January 2006, Alain Strub was appointed as Group Head of Risk Management and Permanent Controls.

Mr Strub was born in 1955, and is a graduate of the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Toulouse.

Anthony Crontiras
Mr Crontiras began his career in 1985 as project manager at Booz, Allen & Hamilton in France.
He subsequently became Vice-Chairman and CEO of Delta Dairy SA in Greece. More recently, he has been Chairman of Danone Hellas SA.
Anthony Crontiras worked for many years at Barilla International. He joined Barilla in 1989 as Head of International Development, and in 1991 he returned to Greece as Vice-Chairman and CEO of Misko SA when it was acquired by Barilla International.
Anthony Crontiras has been CEO of Emporiki Bank since 20 October 2006.

Mr Crontiras was born in 1957, and holds a BA in Economics from the University of Athens, an MA in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from INSEAD.