PRESS RELEASE

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Guaranty Trust Bank’s Tayo Aderinokun is CEO of the Year

January 2009: Mr. Tayo Aderinokun, Managing Director and CEO of Guaranty Trust Bank plc has emerged CEO of the Year at the Thisday Awards 2009 held in Abuja on Wednesday, January 14, 2008. This is coming on the heels of an earlier recognition as Banker of the Year in 2005.

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The CEO of the year Award publicly distinguishes business leaders who, through a combination of leadership skills, incisive vision and strength of character, have advanced their organization’s strategic goals, both locally and abroad.

Aderinokun co-founded GTBank eighteen years ago and was appointed MD and CEO in August 2002. Over the last 18 years, the institution has remarkably spearheaded a positive spirit in Nigeria’s banking industry, earning domestic and international credibility for Nigeria in the process.

Aside this latest award conferred on Aderinokun, the institution itself is prided with a robust shelf of enviable award recognitions from credible organizations, some of which are the Nigerian Stock Exchange President's Merit award 1996, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008. Thisday Bank of the Year 2006, Brand of the Year 2007, Transaction of the Year 2008 (GDR), The Banker Magazine’s Deals of the Year for Nigeria 2007 (Eurobond), and 2008 (GDR).

The Bank was also voted the Most Customer Focused Bank in Nigeria by KPMG (2008), Most Customer Centric Bank Award by Phillips Consulting Limited (Web Jurist 2007) and the Most Respected Bank in Nigeria by Price Waterhouse Coopers (2006). In the same vein in 2007, the Bank was awarded the Most Respected Company in Nigeria by Price Waterhouse Coopers.

Guaranty Trust Bank plc is also credited with the ground breaking feat of being the first Nigerian Company and first sub-Saharan bank and Nigerian company to be listed on the main market of the London Stock Exchange. Similarly, the Bank had earlier entered the history books as the first Nigerian institution since the early 1990s to venture into the international capital markets and raise funds in a Regulation S Eurobond issue with a $350 million Eurobond issue.

In his reaction, Mr. Aderinokun stated that “this award is a celebration of every individual in the GTBank team. It is a clear reflection of the strength of our collective efforts in setting standards and exceeding them to remain the market leader and company of choice within our local and international environment.”

Aderinokun holds a first degree in Business Administration from the University of Lagos and an MBA with special concentration in International Business from the Graduate School of Management, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

He is a member of the Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM), Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers, FCIB, and also a recipient of a national honor; Member of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (MFR).

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