Doha, 3 September 2007

CORECAP Limited is pleased to announce today that the Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority has granted its subsidiary CORECAP MERCHANT BANK LLC Authorisation as a Category 3 firm to operate in and from the Qatar Financial Centre. CORECAP MERCHANT BANK LLC will offer private equity, investment banking and asset management. CORECAP MERCHANT BANK LLC will commence its activities with CORECAP Islamic Private Equity Fund I and with offering investment banking services. The firm is located at QFC Tower level 7.

This marks the firm’s first regional expansion after less than one year of operations and makes CORECAP MERCHANT BANK LLC among the first regulated entities in the region to offer private equity. The firm is capitalizing on QFC’s international standards and first class regulatory infrastructure to offer a solid platform for its services in Qatar, the entire MENA region and other markets of choice.

CORECAP MERCHANT BANK LLC is a subsidiary of CORECAP Limited, which was founded by the executive team and a prominent group of investors. The board of Directors of CORECAP MERCHANT BANK LLC is chaired by H.E. Sheikh Mohamed Bin Ahmed Bin Jassem Al Thani, former Minister of Economy & Commerce in Qatar, with Khaled Hassan Rashed as CEO & Board Member and Omar Adel El Maghawry as Managing Director.