HONG KONG, August 10 : Merrill Lynch announced that it has appointed Rahul Malhotra as Managing Director and Head of Global Private Client (GPC) Group India.

"India is becoming an increasingly important location both for Merrill Lynch and for our private client business," said Raymundo Yu, Chairman of Merrill Lynch Asia Pacific Region and Head of Merrill Lynch GPC EMEA & Pacific Regions. "Rahul will be an extremely valuable addition to the firm as we grow the business in India.".

Mr. Malhotra will start on September 1 and be based in Singapore, looking after Merrill Lynch GPC's onshore operation in India as well as the Non-Resident Indian business.

Ausaf Abbas, Chief Administrative Officer for Merrill Lynch GPC EMEA Pacific and Head of Merrill Lynch GPC for Middle East & India, noted, "We have an aggressive strategy to grow our GPC business in India over the next five years by hiring more financial advisors, targeting the affluent market and enhancing our offerings."

"At the same time, we will also expand our offshore business by targeting ultra-high net worth and high net worth Non-Resident Indians," he added.

Mr. Malhotra is a seasoned banker with more than 20 years of experience in Asia. Most recently, he led retail banking for Citibank in Asia Pacific. He previously held a number of senior positions within Citibank, including Global Head of Non-Resident Indian business based in London and Area Director for the bank's Middle East and Non-Resident Indian business based in Dubai.

According to the Merrill Lynch/Capgemini 2006 World Wealth Report, India is one of the fastest-growing markets globally for high net worth individual population. At the end of 2005, there were more than 83,000 high net worth individuals in India, an increase of nearly 20% from the year before. High net worth individuals are people with net financial assets of at least US$1 million, excluding their primary residence and consumables.

In December 2005, Merrill Lynch announced that it would increase its stake in its India joint venture DSP Merrill Lynch to 90 percent. DSP Merrill Lynch is one of the leading wealth management, capital markets and advisory companies in India.

Merrill Lynch is one of the world's leading wealth management, capital markets and advisory companies with offices in 36 countries and territories and total client assets of approximately US$1.8 trillion. As an investment bank, it is a leading global trader and underwriter of securities and derivatives across a broad range of asset classes and serves as a strategic advisor to corporations, governments, institutions, and individuals worldwide. Through Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, the company is one of the world's largest managers of financial assets. Firmwide, assets under management total US$589 billion. For more information on Merrill Lynch, please visit www.ml.com.