Press Release

FLA WELCOMES NEW ASSET FINANCE DIVISION CHAIRMAN

10 May 2007

FLA’s Board have appointed Richard Priestman, Director of Corporate Business at Lombard North Central plc as Chairman of its Asset Finance Division for the two year term to 2009.

Richard Priestman is a Charted Accountant who trained at Deloitte. He worked in Financial Control at RHM and for the Canadian Auditor General as a forensic accountant.

He has been working for the Royal Bank of Scotland for 20 years and in 2005 became Lombard’s Director of Strategy. He is a member of the Lombard North Central plc Board and is responsible for Group 3 initiatives in leasing, evaluation tools, Basel II topics and a range of other initiatives within Lombard.

In 2007 he was appointed Director, Corporate Businesses, Lombard, as well as Strategy.

Mr Priestman has extensive experience in both direct and indirect tax, and of both the equipment and motor sectors.

He has been a Board member of FLA for two years in his capacity as Vice-Chairman of the asset finance division and led the FLA negotiations with local authorities on the new UK tax regime for leasing.

As well as appointing David Betteley of Toyota Financial Services as FLA Chairman, FLA have also made appointments of new chairmen in its motor and consumer divisions: Doug Moody (DaimlerChrysler) has taken over from Peter Cottle (Capital Bank Motor) as Chairman of the Motor Finance Division; and Nigel Terrington (Paragon) has taken over from Simon Baum (Alliance & Leicester) as Chairman of the Consumer Finance Division. Both have previously served as vice-Chairmen of their respective divisions.

The Board will welcome Stephen Sklaroff, the incoming FLA Director General, from 21 May.