Munich, September 15, 2004 - A change is to take place in the management of Munich-based Giesecke & Devrient. Chairman of the Board and CEO Willi Berchtold will be leaving the company as of October 31, 2004. The contractual relationship is being terminated in harmonious mutual agreement. The shareholders, the Supervisory Board and the Advisory Board thank Mr. Berchtold and express their appreciation for the work he has performed for G&D.

Willi Berchtold joined G&D from IBM as Chairman of the Board and CEO in September 1998. G&D has developed into a leading, globally successful high-security group in the fields of banknote production and processing, smart card systems, transaction security, and identification.

Until Mr. Berchtold’s successor has been appointed, board members Dr. Walter Schlebusch and Dr. Peter Zattler will manage the company on an acting basis.

About Giesecke & Devrient: Giesecke & Devrient (G&D), based in Munich, Germany, is an international technology group with subsidiaries and joint ventures throughout the world. In fiscal 2003, the group employed some 6,800 people and generated a revenue of €1.05 billion. Founded in Leipzig in 1852, G&D began as a printer of securities, soon specializing in banknote production. The company has been developing solutions and complete systems for automatic currency processing since 1970. Today, G&D is also a technology leader in smart cards, and a solutions provider in the fields of telecommunications, electronic payments, transportation, health, ID, and Internet security. For more information, please visit our Web site at www.gi-de.com.

Further information: Andrea Bockholt Press Manager/Corporate Communications Giesecke & Devrient GmbH, Prinzregentenstr. 159, D-81677 Munich Tel. +49 (0) 89 4119-2422, Fax +49 (0) 89 4119-2020, Mobile: +49 (0)160-3 64 02 54 mailto:andrea.bockholt@de.gi-de.com http://www.gi-de.com