Gemplus Announces Organizational Changes

Ernie Berger is joining Gemplus in the United States as the President of Gemplus North America and is based in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area. Mr. Berger has 15 years of experience in the financial services sector with American Express and First USA, a Bank One company, where he held senior management positions. He successfully launched multiple new products, managed national branding campaigns, and grew profitability. More recently, Mr. Berger was instrumental in the start-up of new business ventures, first with Walker Digital, and then through his own consulting firm, acting as a start- up CEO. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Columbia University in New York, and an MBA from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia. Remi Calvet is joining Gemplus as the new Vice President Corporate Communications. Mr. Calvet holds a B.A. in Corporate Law, and an MBA from HEC (Hautes Etudes Commerciales) in Paris. After five years with Unilever and DMC (a leading European Textile group) in auditing and strategic planning, Mr. Calvet joined Philip Morris International. During his ten years with Philip Morris, he had various responsibilities based in Paris, Brussels, and Lausanne in Business Planning, Corporate Affairs, Government Relations, and Communications. At the same time, Gemplus is building a more efficient organization and refocusing its approach to customers in three key segments: telecommunications, financial services, and ID & Security. The former Financial and Security Services Business Unit has been divided into two distinct entities: the Financial Services Business Unit, comprising banking, retail, transport, and conventional cards; and the ID & Security Business Unit, comprising ID, security and smart card interface (hardware and readers). With this new focused structure Gemplus will be able to build a closer relationship with its customers and benefit from all of the growth opportunities in each of the markets. Justin DAngelo will head the Financial Services Business Unit as Senior Vice President. In his new role Justin will report to Philippe Combes, Executive Vice-President, Operations and Financial Services. Jacques Seneca will head the ID & Security Business Unit, in addition to his existing duties as Executive Vice-President, Business Development Group.