NEW MANAGING DIRECTOR FOR HONG LEONG ISLAMIC BANK

Hong Leong Islamic Bank Appoints Hijah Arifakh binti Othman as New Managing Director

 Hong Leong Islamic Bank Berhad ("HLISB") is pleased to announce the appointment of Hijah Arifakh binti Othman as the new Managing Director of Hong Leong Islamic Bank.Hijah will spearhead the development and growth of Islamic financial services provided by HLISB to its retail and wholesale banking customers. HLISB will be focused on providing total solutions to its customers in the areas of investment banking, corporate and commercial and consumer finance. Besides that, Hijah will supervise the Shariah Unit of the Bank as well as oversee all Shariah based aspects of the Hong Leong Bank Group.

Hijah will also play the key role of building and galvanising the Group's Islamic financial services franchise as a regional one as well as to create value out of cross-border transactions via Islamic instruments for the Group and its customers. The focus areas will be on Islamic asset management, Islamic investment banking and wholesale banking, Islamic treasury, Islamic wealth management and takaful.She will work on executing the strategic direction for the global business thrust for the Group, riding on the comparative advantages and regimes between Malaysia (including ICBU), Singapore and Hong Kong to integrate and deliver on the business opportunities on a global basis.

"We are delighted to announce the appointment of Puan Hijah as the Managing Director of Hong Leong Islamic Bank. With an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the Islamic financial services industry and her key involvement in the Malaysian financial market space, she will definitely play a pivotal role in driving key initiatives within the Bank. We welcome Hijah on-board and together with her, look forward to reaching new heights at HLISB," said Yvonne Chia, Group Managing Director, Hong Leong Bank.

"I am very honored to be given the opportunity to lead HLISB as the Managing Director and to provide strategic direction and leadership in managing the Bank. I will work towards building HLISB to become an integral part of the Islamic finance community in driving Malaysia 's Islamic finance industry, which is in line with the Government's vision to make Malaysia an International Islamic Centre. At the same time we strive to become a leading Islamic bank in Malaysia and the region," said Hijah Arifakh binti Othman, the newly appointed Managing Director, Hong Leong Islamic Bank.

A highly experienced banker of over 25 years specializing in treasury, dept capital markets and balance sheet management, she forged her early career with Bank Negara Malaysia where she spent 16 years in several key departments including the regulation department, treasury and banking department. She was also part of the pioneer team that set up Danamodal, the recapitalization agency, as the Head of Treasury.She was also notably with Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia as the Director of Asian Fixed Income Malaysia from 2000-2005. She later moved to Maybank as the Head of Group Treasury until 2009.

Some of the notable deals that Hijah was involved in were Danamodal's inaugural Bond issue of RM 11 billion (1998) that was one of the critical success factors of Danamodal, the Malaysia First Global Sukuk (2002), the inaugural Ringgit Residential Mortgage-Backed Security (RMBS) Bond (2004) which was successfully offered to foreign investors and the inaugural Maybank Islamic Sub-Debt Issuance (2007).She graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mathematics and Computer Science from City University of London, United Kingdom.

-END-Press Release - 14/04/2010