Doha, 20 January 2008

The Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) Authority and Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, have announced the names of a number of eminent financial, business and other prominent figures who will be advising on the development of Qatar Finance – The Ultimate Resource.

The QFC Authority and Bloomsbury Publishing signed a multi-year agreement in August 2007 (OR ANNOUNCED IN SEPTEMBER) to produce Qatar Finance – The Ultimate Resource, an ambitious new banking and finance information resource and its online version www.QFinance.com.

Serving on the Advisory Panel are:

Professor Zvi Bodie, the Norman and Adele Barron Professor of Management at Boston University

Ian Cormack, Non-Executive Director, QFCA

Mervyn Davies, Chairman of Standard Chartered PLC

Dr Florence Eid, Partner & Head of MENA, at Pantera Capital LP

Robert Gray, Chairman, Debt Finance & Advisory at HSBC

Jim O’Neill, Chief Global Economist, Goldman Sachs

John Stuttard, Adviser at PricewaterhouseCoopers and until 9 November 2007 Lord Mayor of London

Jackson Tai, until recently Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of both DBS
Group Holdings and DBS Bank in Singapore and now Director of CapitaLand and the Islamic Bank of Asia.

Created by 300 of the world’s leading experts in the field, Qatar Finance – The Ultimate Resource will meet the information and business needs of the professional finance community worldwide and form a unique online forum for finance professionals.

Scheduled to launch in autumn 2009, the authoritative and wide-ranging 1.5 million word database will give both online and in print access to the latest information on current topics, best practice across all key areas in finance and financial services, key thinkers, business leaders, thus addressing the daily information and advice needs of an increasingly global industry in a clear, accessible and regularly updated form.

The online service will offer finance professionals worldwide free access to the huge breadth and depth of Qatar Finance: The Ultimate Resource, together with compelling additional daily content updates and functionality targeted at the needs of the global financial community, as well as academics and students of business and finance. The website QFinance.com will be supported by a series of authoritative books.

Stuart Pearce, CEO and Director General of the Qatar Financial Centre Authority, said “The list of eminent people who have committed to support the strategic development of Qatar Finance – the Ultimate Resource speaks for itself.

This is an exciting project that reflects Qatar’s own progressive strategy to become a knowledge based society and to develop its financial sector in line with and to the standard of the world’s best. Bloomsbury Publishing have demonstrated through their involvement with the launch of Encarta with Microsoft, as well as the publishing of Who’s Who, Whitaker’s Almanack and Schott’s Miscellany that they are the ideal partner for an ambitious project such as Qatar Finance – The Ultimate Resource.”

Nigel Newton, Founder and Chief Executive of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc said:

“Qatar Finance – The Ultimate Resource is a unique project of global significance which will become the globally recognized print and online first point of reference for people involved in finance from business leaders to students and all levels in between. .We are delighted with the quality of the initial members of our Strategic Advisory Panel which reflects our ambitions for the project. It will be of the highest quality and provide great educational value and professional guidance to all who use it. Bloomsbury have a tried and tested capability to manage a project of this ambition and scale, and to deliver the intellectual input to ensure its success. With an organisation of such dynamism as the QFC Authority, we are confident that Qatar Finance – The Ultimate Resource will be a fitting legacy for this financial generation, and a benchmark for the next.”

Media Contact: Steve Martin Head of Corporate Communications and Marketing

Tel +974 496 7755 Mob +974 583 1937 e-mail s.martin@qfc.com.qa

Notes to Editors:

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Bloomsbury Publishing is one of the world’s leading independent, publicly quoted publishing houses with a reputation for a high quality management team and a highly valuable portfolio of intellectual properties including the Encarta World English Dictionary, JK Rowling’s Harry Potter, Margaret Atwood, John Irving, David Guterson and Ben Schott. Other databases include Who’s Who, Whitaker’s Almanack, Reed’s Nautical Almanac, Black’s Medical Dictionary, the Macmillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners of English, Business: The Ultimate Resource and the RSPB Guide to Birds. (www.bloomsbury.com and www.bloomsbury-ir.co.uk)

Qatar Financial Centre
The Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) is a financial and business centre established by the Government of Qatar and located in Doha. It has been designed to attract international financial services institutions and major multi-national corporations and to encourage participation in the growing market for financial services in Qatar and elsewhere in the region. The QFC will operate to international standards and provide a first class legal and business infrastructure for those operating within the QFC. The QFC was created by Qatar Law No.(7) and has been open for business since 1 May 2005.

QFC Regulatory Authority
The QFC Regulatory Authority is an independent regulatory body established by Article 8 of the QFC Law. It regulates firms that conduct financial services in or from the QFC. It has a broad range of regulatory powers to authorize, supervise and, when necessary, discipline firms and individuals. The QFC Regulatory Authority regulates firms using principle-based legislation of international standard, modeled closely on that used in London and other major financial centers. The Regulatory Authority is currently receiving applications and granting authorisations.

QFC Authority
The QFC Authority is the commercial, administrative and legislative body responsible for driving the commercial strategy of the QFC and for developing relationships with the global corporate community and other key institutions both within and outside of Qatar.

The QFC Civil and Commercial Court and QFC Regulatory Tribunal
The QFC Civil and Commercial Court and QFC Regulatory Tribunal were launched in February 2007. The President of the Court is Lord Woolf, formerly Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales. The Court is modelled on the internationally respected Commercial Court in London. In the event of disputes in matters of law, it will be the final arbiter. The Regulatory Tribunal has been established to hear and decide upon appeals from decisions of the QFC Regulatory Authority and other QFC agencies. Its Chairman is William Blair, QC. Both the President and the Chairman are supported by Judges who have held the highest judicial offices in their own jurisdictions.