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Supervisory Board Approves Restructuring Concept for WestLB

The Supervisory Board of WestLB AG today appointed two new members to the Managing Board of the Bank. Thomas Groß, aged 42, will assume the function of Chief Risk Officer (CRO) of the Bank and Klemens Breuer, aged 40, will have responsibility for WestLB´s Capital Markets business as a deputy member of the Managing Board.

Thomas Groß is currently CRO of Bank Austria Creditanstalt AG in Vienna. Since 2006 he has been responsible for the Risk Management activities of the entire BA Group including the subsidiaries in Central and Eastern Europe. He began his professional career with Boston Consulting Group, for whom he was latterly Global Head of Risk Management. Subsequently he became Head of Group Credit Risk Control at HypoVereinsbank, rising to the position of Divisional Board Group Risk Control and Head of Risk Control and Policies at the holding level of Unicredit Group.

Thomas Groß takes over responsibility for Risk Management from Dr. Wolfgang Nickels. Dr. Nickels will in future focus exclusively on his role as Employee Relations Director, the demands of which are considerable in terms of time and workload due to the restructuring of the Bank.

After several years of service with WestLB, Klemens Breuer becomes a deputy member of the Managing Board with responsibility for the Capital Markets business. He brings long-standing experience to his new role, which was initially acquired in the Global Markets, Treasury and Global Finance units of Deutsche Bank in Germany and abroad. In 2005 he joined WestLB´s Treasury team, where he is currently business unit head and Group Treasurer.

Werner Taiber is currently responsible for both the Capital Markets business at Managing Board level and for the Corporates & Structured Finance Division. This dual function, which he had assumed over twelve months ago, will now be split up again into two divisional responsibilities at Board level. Werner Taiber will in future focus exclusively on the Corporates & Structured Finance Division.

“During this period of radical change at WestLB and in the Landesbank sector, it is especially important to entrust a highly qualified Managing Board with structuring the realignment of the Bank,” emphasised Michael Breuer, Chairman of the WestLB Supervisory Board. “In terms of their professional expertise and proven commitment, the appointments of Thomas Groß and Klemens Breuer represent a major step forward for WestLB,” he added.

Restructuring Concept Approved

The Supervisory Board of WestLB AG today also approved the restructuring concept which the Managing Board has developed for the future strategic orientation of the Bank. The concept, the key points of which will be coordinated further in a constructive dialogue with the European Commission, provides for a targeted return on equity of at least 14% by 2012. This forms the basis for ensuring that the Bank is actively positioned in the forthcoming consolidation of the Landesbank sector. The Bank´s owners will forward the restructuring plan to the European Commission via the Finance Ministry of North Rhine-Westphalia and the Federal Economics Ministry.

The key points of the restructuring plan are:

• The clear streamlining of the business model through a focus on the core competences of the Bank
• The expansion of the Bank´s “Verbund” business with the savings banks 
• The clear reduction of risk-weighted assets and the sustainable strengthening of the risk management 
• Cost reductions of at least € 300 million through a significant improvement of process efficiency 
• Headcount reduction of at least 1,350 full-time employees by 2010.

Moreover, in the context of the discussions with the European Commission, the Bank´s owners declared their intention to proceed with a change in the ownership structure. The integration of the Bank in the consolidation process of the Landesbanks is the preferred option. If a timely implementation of this should not be possible, the owners are open to other options. During the ensuing transformation phase the owners declare their complete and unstinting support for the Bank.