Euler Hermes: new governance

PARIS , France , Oct. 16 /CNW Telbec/ - Within the framework of the new organisation which will be implemented 1 January 2010 and in order to manage the group in a fully integrated way, the members of the Management Board of Euler Hermes decided to strengthen the group functions and to concentrate on them. Moreover six Heads of Region are appointed.

    
    The Board of Management is composed of five members:

    -  Wilfried Verstraete, a Belgian citizen, is Chief Executive Officer
       (CEO) of the Euler Hermes group. He steers group activities in the
       Regions and is in charge of Group Internal Audit, Communications and
       Human Resources.
    -  Gerd-Uwe Baden, a German citizen, is responsible for Risk
       Underwriting.
    -  Nicolas Hein, a native of Luxembourg, is in charge of Finance,
       Compliance, Legal and Tax.
    -  Michael Hörr, a German citizen, is responsible for Operations and IT.
    -  Michel Mollard, a French citizen, is in charge of Market Management,
       Commercial and Distribution.

    Six Heads of Region are appointed:

    -  Jochen Dümler is appointed Head of the Americas and CEO of Euler
       Hermes ACI, the group subsidiary in the U.S.
       Jochen Dümler, a German citizen, was previously a member of the Board
       of Management of Euler Hermes Kreditversicherung, the group subsidiary
       in Germany, and was in charge of commercial credit insurance, bonds
       and guarantees, international development. He graduated in Business
       Administration from the Universities of Nuremberg and Munich, Germany.

    -  Ralf Meurer is appointed Head of Germany / Austria / Switzerland and
       CEO of Euler Hermes Kreditversicherung, the group subsidiary in
       Germany.
       Ralf Meurer, a German citizen, was previously President and Chief
       Executive of the Lifestyle Protection segment of Genworth Financial
       (formerly GE Insurance) in London. He graduated in Business
       Administration from the University of Giessen, Germany.

    -  Joachim Olszewski is appointed Head of Asia / Pacific.
       Joachim Olszewski, a German citizen, was previously Commercial
       Director of Euler Hermes Kreditversicherung, the group subsidiary in
       Germany, before moving to Singapore as regional CEO for Euler Hermes
       in Asia this summer. He graduated in Business Administration from the
       University of Hamburg, Germany.

    -  Paul Overeem is appointed Head of Northern Europe.
       Paul Overeem, a Dutch citizen, was previously CEO of Euler Hermes ACI,
       the group subsidiary in the U.S. He has a Masters degree in Law from
       the University of Brabant, Netherlands.

    -  Michele Pignotti is appointed Head of Mediterranean countries /
       Africa.
       In addition to his new role, Michele Pignotti, an Italian citizen,
       remains CEO of Euler Hermes SIAC, the group subsidiary in Italy. He
       has a degree in Political Sciences from the University of Naples,
       Italy, and a MBA (Marketing specialization) at CUOA (Centro
       Universitario Organizzazione Aziendale) Business School.

    -  Ludovic Sénécaut is appointed Head of France and CEO of Euler Hermes
       SFAC, the group subsidiary in France.
       Ludovic Sénécaut, a French citizen, was previously a member of the
       Board of Management of Euler Hermes SFAC, in charge of international
       development and operations in France (IT, organization, datamining).
       He graduated from Ecole Polytechnique and Ponts et Chaussées, France.

    The five members of the Board of Management and the six Heads of Region
make up the Leadership Team of the Euler Hermes group. Wilfried Verstraete is
the President of the Leadership Team.

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    Euler Hermes is the worldwide leader in credit insurance and one of the
    leaders in the areas of bonding, guarantees and collections. With 6,200
    employees in over 50 countries, Euler Hermes offers a complete range of
    services for the management of B-to-B trade receivables and posted a
    consolidated turnover of (euro)2.2 billion in 2008.
    Euler Hermes has developed a credit intelligence network that enables it
    to analyse the financial stability of 40 million businesses across the
    globe. The group protects worldwide business transactions totalling
    (euro)700 billion.
    Euler Hermes, subsidiary of Allianz, is listed on Euronext Paris. The
    group and its principal credit insurance subsidiaries are rated AA- by
    Standard & Poor's.

    www.eulerhermes.com
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    These assessments are, as always, subject to the disclaimer provided
    below.
    

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: Certain of the statements contained herein may be statements of future expectations and other forward-looking statements that are based on management's current views and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. In addition to statements which are forward-looking by reason of context, the words 'may, will, should, expects, plans, intends, anticipates, believes, estimates, predicts, potential, or continue' and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. Actual results, performance or events may differ materially from those in such statements due to, without limitation, (i) general economic conditions, including in particular economic conditions in the Allianz SE's core business and core markets, (ii) performance of financial markets, including emerging markets, (iii) the frequency and severity of insured loss events, (iv) mortality and morbidity levels and trends, (v) persistency levels, (vi) the extent of credit defaults (vii) interest rate levels, (viii) currency exchange rates including the Euro-U.S. Dollar exchange rate, (ix) changing levels of competition, * changes in laws and regulations, including monetary convergence and the European Monetary Union, (xi) changes in the policies of central banks and/or foreign governments, (xii) the impact of acquisitions, including related integration issues, (xiii) reorganization measures and (xiv) general competitive factors, in each case on a local, regional, national and/or global basis. Many of these factors may be more likely to occur, or more pronounced, as a result of terrorist activities and their consequences. The matters discussed herein may also involve risks and uncertainties described from time to time in Allianz SE's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The Group assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking information contained herein.

For further information: Raphaële Hamel, Press relations, Euler Hermes group, [phone], [email protected]; www.eulerhermes.com