Thomas F. Ferguson, 72, joined the board of directors in 1982 and is lead director and chairman of the Audit Committee. Ferguson retired in 2005 from his position as managing director of United Gulf Management Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kuwait Investment Projects Co. KSC. He has represented Kuwait Investment Projects Co. on the boards of various companies in which it invests, including Baltic Transit Bank in Latvia and Tunis International Bank in Tunisia. Ferguson is a Canadian qualified Certified General Accountant and was formerly employed by the Economist Intelligence Unit of London as a financial consultant.