Earthport Regulatory News (EPO)

4 September 2018

Earthport Plc

("Earthport" or "the Company")

Sunil Sabharwal, former US Board member to the IMF, to Join the Board of Earthport

Earthport plc (AIM: EPO.L), the leading payment network for cross-border payments, is pleased to announce that Mr Sunil Sabharwal, has agreed to join Earthport's Board as a Non-Executive Director, subject to regulatory approvals.

Mr Sabharwal has most recently served as the US Alternative Executive Director to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He was confirmed by the United States Senate in February 2016 for a period of 2 years, which he served out in its entirety across two US administrations. In his capacity as the sole Senate-confirmed US Board Member to the IMF, Mr Sabharwal has been responsible for casting the US vote on all decisions of the IMF including those on lending, surveillance reviews, policy issues and key budget and personnel matters. Mr Sabharwal also served on the IMF's Budget and Liaison committees, where he maintained Board-level relationship with the World Bank, UN and other international organisations. He was also member of the Board's gender-equality working group.

Mr Sabharwal took an active role in collaborating with the IMF's Financial Technology Initiatives and its fledgling Risk Unit. This included focusing on initiatives such as the IMF's research on Fintech, remittances and virtual currencies.

Mr Sabharwal also ran an investment firm and served as a Board Member or Chairman for numerous International Companies focused on FinTech, including Ogone, now part of Ingenico. He helped grow those entities both organically & inorganically, providing significant returns to investors. Mr Sabharwal had a career in corporate finance, private equity and M&A with blue chip employers such as GE Capital, First Data Corporation / Western Union, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Coopers and Lybrand. Mr Sabharwal served as the Senior Vice President for Strategic Investments for First Data Corporation. During his time with GE Equity, a division of GE Capital, he served as the Managing Director for Financial Services and Healthcare.

Mr Sabharwal graduated from the London Business School with a Master of Science in Management, and from the Ohio State University (OSU) with a Bachelor of Sciences in Business Administration. He was OSU's NCAA All-American fencer, recipient of its Jack Stephenson Scholar-Athlete award, and more recently the Global Business Excellence Award presented annually to a single distinguished alumni member. Mr Sabharwal has been involved with numerous International and US Olympic related entities, to include the IOC's Sport and Sustainability and Legacy Commission (Member since 2000), the International Fair Play Committee, and the LA 2024 Olympic Games Bid Committee. He was the Chief of Mission for US Olympic fencing team to Beijing 2008.

Phil Hickman, Chairman of Earthport, commented: "I am delighted to welcome Sunil Sabharwal as a member of our Board of Directors. Sunil brings a wealth of very valuable experience to Earthport, as his outstanding career in financial technology, private equity and banking has helped numerous companies to grow and prosper. I am confident that Sunil's strategic oversight will materially contribute to our success." 

Commenting on his appointment, Sunil Sabharwal said: " I am honoured to have been asked to join the board of Earthport. Over recent years we have witnessed a significant reduction in correspondent banking relationships making it difficult and costly for many geographies to receive inflows. Earthport addresses exactly this issue, and does it more efficiently and effectively than any other independent player, and I am excited to be part of its next phase of development".

Amanda Mesler, CEO of Earthport, commented: "We are extremely fortunate to have Sunil Sabharwal as our newest Director. Sunil's experience leading financial institutions coupled with directorships in industry and private equity will make an important and positive impact on our firm and will further strengthen our Board's breadth of talent, experience and global reach."

Sunil Sabharwal, age 54, has not held any directorships and / or partnerships in the past five years.

As at the date of this announcement Sunil Sabharwal does not have any interest in any ordinary shares of the Company.

There is no further information to be disclosed in relation to Sunil Sabharwal's appointment pursuant to AIM Rule 17 or paragraph (g) of Schedule Two of the AIM Rules for Companies.

For further information, please contact:

Earthport Plc 020 7220 9700

Amanda Mesler, Chief Executive Officer

Phil Hickman, Non-Executive Chairman

Newgate 020 7653 9848

Bob Huxford / Ian Silvera / Imogen Humphreys

N+1 Singer (Nomad & Joint Broker) 020 7496 3000

Mark Taylor/James White

Shore Capital (Joint Broker) 020 7408 4090

Toby Gibbs/Stephane Auton

About Earthport

Earthport provides cross-border payment services to banks and businesses. Through a single relationship with Earthport, clients can seamlessly manage payments to almost any bank account in the world, reducing costs and complexity to meet their customers' evolving expectations of price, speed and transparency.

Earthport offers clients access to global payment capability in 200+ countries and territories, with local ACH options in 65+ countries and an evolving suite of currencies and settlement options.

Earthport continues to invest in the establishment of in-country bank partnerships across the world, bringing together its deep market and regulatory expertise in order to maintain compliant and commercially competitive services.

The result - a global payments network accessed via a single relationship, delivering significant cost and operating efficiencies for banks and businesses servicing high volumes of lower value payments.

Headquartered in London with regional offices in New York, Dubai, Miami and Singapore, Earthport is a public company, traded on the London Stock Exchange (AIM: EPO).

Please visit www.earthport.com for more information.