Nicolas G. Hayek, born in 1928, is the co-founder, Chairman and Delegate of the Board of Directors of the Swatch Group, with principal headquarters in Biel-Bienne. After having engineered and implemented the reorganization of the Asuag and SSIH watch companies for more than four years, finally bringing about their merger, N.G. Hayek took over, with a group of Swiss investors, a major shareholder in the new group in 1985. He became Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer in 1986.

N.G. Hayek played a decisive role in the recovery of the Swatch Group with its watch brands Swatch, Breguet, Blancpain, Hatot, Glashütte Original/Union, Jaquet-Droz, Léon Hatot, Omega, Longines, Rado, Tissot, Calvin Klein, Certina, Mido, Hamilton, Pierre Balmain, Flik Flak and Endura. The strategies he developed in the early 1980s led to the success of the entire Swiss watch industry and regained its leading position worldwide since 1984.

A few of his achievements at the Swatch Group are:

• the strategic decision for launching the Swatch based upon the masterplan of Hayek Engineering AG.
• the continuous development and improvement of products and trademarks such as Breguet, Omega, Rado, Longines, Tissot, etc.
• maintaining the number one position in the watch industry on a worldwide basis by achieving sales of over 4 billion Swiss francs in 2000.
• the revival of the Swiss watch industry through the supply of watch movements and components to the whole Swiss watch industry.

Especially for this reason but also as a sign of gratitude for maintaining and creating new jobs and production centers in Switzerland as well as in Europe and for the development of the Swatch brand, Mr. Hayek was awarded the title of Doctor honoris causa of the Faculty of "Beni Culturali" of the University of Bologna (Italy) in June 1998, after being awarded doctor honoris causa of Law and Economics of the University of Neuchatel (Switzerland) in 1996.

At the beginning of 1995, the former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl appointed Mr. Hayek member of his Council for Research, Technology and Innovation for the future of Germany and Europe. This Council presided by Mr. Kohl included important German personalities from politics, economy, industry and research, Mr. Hayek being the only foreigner among the seventeen members.

In 1996, the Government of France nominated Mr. Hayek President of the "Groupe de réflexion" of France, an Innovation Council for the future economical strategies of France. He is furthermore consultant to many European governments.

Mr. Hayek was named a member of the IOC 2000, a workshop of the International Olympic Committee formed to restructure the Olympics in the future.

Since May 2001, Mr. Hayek is member of the European Commission's work shop "Brussels Capital of Europe", presided by Mr. Roman Prodi. The goal of this workshop is the definition of the needs and functions that a capital of Europe should fulfill.

Nicolas G. Hayek is also the founder, Chairman of the Board and C.E.O. of Hayek Engineering Inc. Its headquarter is in Zurich. The Hayek company (founded in 1963) employs some 250 highly qualified professionals experienced in a variety of sectors, such as iron and steel, automotive industry, watches, IC production, telecommunication systems and other advanced technologies, etc., where they undertake projects in engineering, project management, optimization and feasibility studies, strategic planning, sales and marketing, as well as consulting in the field of organization and systems.

Over more than 30 years, Mr. Hayek has gained a leading reputation throughout the world, with a list of international clients including: Volkswagen AG, US Steel, Siemens, AEG-Telefunken AG, Deere & Company, Digital Equipment Corp., World Bank, Fried. Krupp GmbH, Ministry of Metallurgy of China, Olivetti SpA, BMW, Thyssen-Group, Dresdner Bank, Voest-Alpine, Alfa-Romeo, Nestlé, etc.

In Switzerland, the Hayek company has carried out numerous projects in both the public and private sectors, making itself known to the public through its achievements for the Swiss Television and Radio, the City of Zurich, the Swiss Railways, the Asuag-SSIH (today Swatch Group), the University of Basel, the Canton of Aargau, the Swiss Parliament for a project of the Federal Military Department and the Federal Universities of Technology. In September 1999, Hayek Engineering, under the direction of Mr. Hayek, established a feasibility study for the Swiss national exhibition Expo.02. Mr. Hayek had been mandated to do this crash study by the strategic committee of Expo.02 and the Swiss Government.

Biel-Bienne, May 2006.