YEREVAN, October 25, /ARKA/. Ms. Astrid Clifford, HSBC Bank Armenia CEO, was appointed as NASDAQ OMX Armenia Supervisory Board Member. Her appointment is effective starting October 18, 2011 when the Central Bank of Armenia’s relevant decision came into force, HSBC Bank Armenia said in a press release.

Ms. Clifford has been the Chief Executive Officer of HSBC Bank Armenia cjsc since 30 January 2010. She has worked for the HSBC Group for the past 21 years, and has held various managerial positions in the UK, Jersey, UAE, Oman, India, Vietnam, Taiwan, Hong Kong and the United States.

Ms. Clifford graduated from Southampton University with a degree in Psychology and from The London School of Economics with a Masters in Economics.

The Supervisory Board of Nasdaq OMX Armenia is appointed by the general meeting of shareholders and consists of chairman and four members. The Supervisory Board forms the overall strategy and policy of the company and has the authority to take decisions on all matters, except for those, which are decided by the general meeting of shareholders. The Supervisory Board also approves the rules of the exchange. The chairman of the Supervisory Board is the Vice-President of Nasdaq OMX Henrik Elfving.

Also last week Konstantin Saroyan was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of NASDAQ OMX Armenia. On October 3, 3011 NASDAQ OMX Armenia Management Board approved Mr. Saroyan as Acting CEO pending registration by the Central Bank of Armenia, which was officially received on October 18, 2011.

Mr. Saroyan is a senior banking executive with solid experience of technologies implementation and development, strategic planning and management, gained from leading companies in Armenia. He started his career in 1999 in Armagrobank. In 2001-2002 Mr. Saroyan leaded Clearing and Settlement group in Central Depository of Armenia. Afterwards starting from 2002 he headed marketing, strategic planning in a number of Armenian banks.

In 2004-2011 Mr. Saroyan had senior executive positions in “Armswissbank” cjsc, including Head of Internal Audit, Member of the Management Board, as well as managed various departments of the bank, including marketing, PR, human resouces, strategic planning, business development.

Mr. Saroyan participated in Working groups of international organizations as an expert of capital market development.

Mr. Saroyan graduated from Yerevan State University and holds PhD in Economics. Mr. Saroyan attended to various seminars and trainings, both local and abroad. He was also a lecturer in a number of Universities in Armenia, currently teaching in French University of Armenia Foundation.

The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. is the world's largest exchange company. It delivers trading, exchange technology and public company services across six continents, and with over 3,900 companies, it is number one in worldwide listings among major markets. NASDAQ OMX technology supports the operations of over 70 exchanges, clearing organizations and central securities depositories in more than 50 countries.

In January 2008, Nordic exchange operator OMX Group acquired 100% of shares of the Armenian Stock Exchange (Armex) and the Central Depository of Armenia (CDA). After the combination of NASDAQ and OMX in February 2008, Armex and CDA have become fully owned by the NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc.

On January 27, 2009, “Armenian Stock Exchange” ojsc was officially renamed as “NASDAQ OMX Armenia” ojsc. On June 5, 2009, “NASDAQ OMX Armenia” ojsc became the owner of 100% of the shares of the “Central Depository of Armenia” ojsc. -0-