16th September 2005:  Northern Arch is delighted to announce the signing of SG Equipment Finance to its growing list of 42™ clients. 42™ is Northern Arch’s end-to-end lease management and asset finance system. The implementation will commence immediately with a view to covering the entire lifecycle of SG Equipment Finance’s various transactional workflows. 42™ will support SG Equipment Finance’s loan portfolio, Asset Finance and Leasing transactions, Purchase Receivable transactions and provide motor vehicle fleet capabilities.

Lester Singleton, CEO, Northern Arch said “This opportunity is a major success for Northern Arch and we are looking forward to working with Robert Gallen and his colleagues to achieve SG Equipment Finance’s project objectives and to be able to establish and maintain a very strong and effective relationship long into the future. We are very proud to be adding SG Equipment Finance to our increasingly impressive client base using 42™ in a variety of markets.”

SG Equipment Finance - The leading specialist for equipment and vendor finance (www.sgequipmentfinance.com)

SG Equipment Finance is part of the Société Générale banking group and a leading partner for equipment and vendor finance in Europe and Australia. The Group especially meets the requirements of multinational vendors looking for a financial partner with an international outlook. Furthermore, we offer an attractive range of tailor-made financial services such as equipment loans, leasing solutions for the asset-financing needs of small and medium-sized clients.

With more than 60 branches SG Equipment Finance is located in 17 European countries and in Australia. Thanks to this presence and the expertise of skilled local teams our group is able to provide international manufacturers and distributors with cross-border sales-finance facilities - even in countries with very different characteristics. In all countries, we have bundled our sound industry and project knowledge in the same fields which are transport, high-tech and industrial equipment.

SG Equipment Finance aims to establish long-term partnerships built on mutual benefit. Accordingly, a broad range of vendor services and every conceivable form of cooperation is offered. Depending on your sales strategy you can choose between various leasing services offered to your customers under your own brand, co-branding agreements and loose cooperation arrangements. Whether you wish to benefit from further SG Equipment Finance services, e.g. individual sales promotion campaigns or accounting, collection and reporting services, is also up to you.

Up to now SG Equipment Finance has more than 150,000 clients who trust our sound multicultural expertise and in depth market knowledge, our many years of experience and our reliability as part of the Société Générale Group. We have set ourselves the target of becoming the first choice for clients and vendors in Europe - through creativity in thought and action, through our professionalism and our consistent customer focus - always true to our motto: We support. You succeed.

Key Figures:

• No. 1 in Europe for Equipment and Vendor Finance
• Presence in 17 European countries and Australia with more than 60 branches
• Broad customer base with 150,000 relationships
• More than 1,600 employees
• New business volume in 2004 was €6.8billion
• Managed Assets 2004: €16billion
• Expertise in the industry sectors of Transport, Industrial Equipment, High - Tech
• Financial strength and solidity through parent company Société Générale