Jean-Paul Votron Elected as European Business Leader of the Year

Market Wire, January, 2007

Jean-Paul Votron was elected as ' The Business Leader of the Year' during the European Business Awards Conference & Ceremony in Brussels.

The handing out of the European Business Awards took place today in Brussels. The ceremony rewards the most successful companies from the 25 European Union Member States.

In the category 'The Business Leader of the Year', the award went to Jean-Paul Votron. The jury crowned him with this title because of his extraordinary leadership and exceptional vision which has led to Fortis's remarkable performance.

"It is a great award, not only for me, but also for the nearly 60,000 people of Fortis and our clients," said the CEO after the ceremony.

Fortis is an international financial services provider engaged in banking and insurance. We offer our personal, business and institutional customers a comprehensive package of products and services through our own channels, in collaboration with intermediaries and through other distribution partners. With a market capitalisation of EUR 42.1 billion (31/12/2006), Fortis ranks among the twenty largest financial institutions in Europe. Our sound solvency position, our presence in 50 countries and our dedicated, professional workforce of 58,000 enable us to combine global strength with local flexibility and provide our clients with optimum support. More information is available at www.fortis.com .

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