Dr. Ottenberg is to take up his new position on April 1, 2005. He succeeds Willi Berchtold, who left the organization on October 31, 2004.

The 43-year-old doctor of physics joins G&D from Philips Electronics of the Netherlands. Dr. Ottenberg is currently globally responsible for marketing in Philips' semiconductors business, and for sales in the consumer and multimedia segment, covering the consumer electronics, computer equipment and automotive electronics markets.

In terms of smart cards - next to banknote printing and processing Giesecke & Devrient's second mainstay product line - Dr. Ottenberg brings highly relevant experience to his new role. From 1999 to 2002, he headed Philips' international business in semiconductors for smart card and RFID applications. The standardization and market breakthrough of contactless smart card and RFID technologies, in which Philips played a decisive role, took place in this period, among other major developments. These key technologies are today the basis for major international projects for ID documents and credit cards, as well as mass transit and identification applications, all of which are important growth markets for Giesecke & Devrient.