“Xavier has a great experience within the Group and his strong expertise of the smart card industry, notably in our payment and personalization core business, is a major strength for our team”, said Philippe Geyres, CEO. “I’m very happy that Xavier has accepted to take up the challenge and I wish him success in this new mission.” Xavier, a graduate of Telecom INT and of Harvard Business School (PMD72), began his career as Management Consultant at Arthur Andersen and KPMG Peat Marwick. He joined the François-Charles Oberthur Group in 1994 and was Vice President of banknote Corporation of America, a subsidiary of François Charles Oberthur Fiduciaire between 1994 and 1997. He started with Oberthur Card Systems in 1997 as Director of Manufacturing and Development. In 1999, he played a key role in the acquisition of the Card Division of De La Rue and then in its merger with Oberthur Card Systems as Director of Corporate Operations. Xavier held several managing positions in manufacturing and in sales. He greatly contributed to the international development of the company with the opening of sales offices, new manufacturing and personalization facilities or various acquisitions, particularly in Southern Europe, the Middle East, Africa and South America. In 2006, he conducted a restructuring plan in Europe and deployed the global management of the worldwide SIM card manufacturing. s.cau@oberthurcs.com www.oberthurcs.com