The closing of the sale of Rabobank's majority shareholding in Bank Sarasin & Co. Ltd to the Safra Group was completed on 31 July 2012. As a result of the closing, Safra now holds 50.15% of the share capital and 71.01% of the voting rights of Bank Sarasin. Following Safra's acquisition of the majority stake, Bank Sarasin will in the future be included in the scope of consolidation of J. Safra Holding AG, Basel.

At the Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) of Shareholders of Bank Sarasin & Co. Ltd in the afternoon of 31 July 2012, shareholders approved all the resolutions submitted by the Board of Directors. The new Board of Directors was elected and will constitute itself as follows: Pierre-Alain Bracher (Chairman), Hans-Rudolf Hufschmid (Vice-Chairman), Philippe Dupont, Sergio Penchas, Jacob J. Safra, Sipko N. Schat, Marcelo Szerman and Dagmar G. Woehrl. Existing members stepping down from the former Board – Christoph Ammann (Chairman), Peter Derendinger and Pim W. Mol – were thanked for their services and given discharge for the financial year 2012 up to and including 31 July 2012.

Furthermore Safra today has announced its intention to launch an offer to purchase the publicly held Class B registered shares of Bank Sarasin & Co. Ltd at CHF 27.00 per share. Please consult the attached media release of Safra, dated 31 July 2012, for further details.