direct/ Glitnir (IS) - Glitnir signs first real estate joint venture in China with Sinopec`s CGCOC

Reykjavik/Shanghai - 21 June 2007 - Glitnir, the leading Icelandic financial services group, has today announced a joint venture project with CGCOC (CGC Overseas Construction Co. Ltd), for the development of a residential compound in a prime location in the heart of Shenyang city, the capital of Liaoning province in northeast China.

The development site covers 230,000 square metres, of which 85 percent will be committed to housing and 15 percent to commercial units. The project is scheduled to be completed in two years and is one of the largest residential projects in Shenyang to date.

Glitnir will take a 20 percent stake in the new joint venture company, which is as yet un-named, with CGCOC holding the remaining 80 percent. A subsidiary of Sinopec Star Petroleum Co. Ltd, CGCOC is a major provider of infrastructure, energy exploitation and trade services.

Signed on 5 June at CGCOC headquarters in Beijing, this deal marks Glitnir´s first real estate joint venture project in China.
"We believe this is a landmark transaction for Glitnir in China. We opened our representative office in Shanghai in December last year, and this prominent investment role in China´s booming real estate market diversifies further our already established activities in China in geothermal energy, and in the shipping and seafood industries," explains Magnus Bjarnason, Executive VP of International Banking in Glitnir.

Glitnir and Sinopec, China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation, are no strangers to each other. In May 2005 through its shareholding in Enex China, Glitnir and Sinopec subsidiary Shaanxi CGCO Energy Development Construction Co. Ltd., were involved in establishing a joint venture company in Xianyang city in the Shaanxi province to develop a geothermal heating supply for the city. The first phase was opened in December 2006. Geothermal energy is clean and renewable, and it is recognised in China´s energy policy as having great potential to service the needs of China and other countries. Iceland has been a pioneer in the utilisation of geothermal resources for over 70 years.

"We are pleased with the development in China, says Jon Gardar Gudmundsson, Managing Director of Glitnir International Region. "
"Glitnir opened a representative office in Shanghai in order to best serve its customers in China and abroad. We believe our presence here will enable and encourage more Scandinavian and international investment to flow into China," says Jiang Zhu, Director and Chief Representative of Glitnir in China.

For further information, please contact:

Magnus Bjarnason, Glitnir´s Executive Vice President, mobile: +354-844 4523, e-mail: magnus.bjarnason@glitnir.is

Jiang Zhu, Director & Chief Representative, China, mobile: + 86 139 016 118 75 or e-mail: jiang.zhu@glitnirbank.com

Bjørn Richard Johansen, Managing Director, Corporate Communication, Glitnir: e-mail: brj@glitnir.no, mobile +47-47 800 100

For photos, please contact: akj@glitnir.no

About Glitnir
The financial group Glitnir offers universal banking and is a leading niche player in three global segments; seafood/food, sustainable energy, and offshore services vessels. Glitnir considers Iceland and Norway its home markets. Services include retail, corporate and investment banking, stock trade and capital management. Glitnir is the sole owner of a bank in Luxembourg (Glitnir Bank Luxembourg S.A) and banks and financial services companies in Norway (BNbank, Glitnir Bank ASA, Glitnir Securities, Glitnir Factoring and 70% of Glitnir Property Holding. Glitnir´s subsidiary BNbank owns 45 percent of the shares in Norsk Privatøkonomi ASA, an independent financial advisory company with 14 branches in key areas of Norway). Glitnir operate Glitnir Property Group with focus on the commercial real estate market in the Nordics. In Sweden, Glitnir owns the leading Swedish brokerage firm Glitnir AB, the corporate advisory firm Tamm & Partners and the leading commercial real estate advisor Leimdörfer AB. The group owns FIM, the leading asset management company, with operations around Finland and in Stockholm and Moscow. Glitnir operates branches in London and Copenhagen. The group has representative offices in Halifax, Canada and Shanghai, China, and plans to open an office in New York in 2007. Glitnir is listed on the Icelandic Stock Exchange.
For more information: www.glitnirbank.com

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