Standard & Poor's Named Reinsurance Rating Agency of the Year for Fourth Time

Hong Kong, August 31, 2006

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services has been named Reinsurance Rating Agency of the Year by the readers of Reactions for the fourth consecutive year.
It was announced last night in an awards ceremony in Manhattan. Reactions, published by Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC, has been covering the international insurance and reinsurance markets for 25 years and reaches the key players who operate in these markets.

"Given that Standard & Poor's has won this award four years in a row, there is little doubt that Reactions readers have confidence in the firm," said Reactions editor Ben Dyson. This year, Standard & Poor's widened its lead on the second-place finisher, garnering 43% of the votes, the fourth consecutive year the company has exceeded 40% of the votes. The award is voted by Reactions readers via secure Web-voting and telephone interviews. Other award categories include Best Broker, Best Reinsurer, and Best Lawyer.

"It's gratifying that Reactions readers recognize the long-term commitment we have made to tracking the reinsurance sector around the world," said Steve Dreyer, Head of North American Insurance Ratings at Standard & Poor's. "We've tried very hard to maintain a leadership position in assessing cat bonds, securitizations, and sidecars, in addition to monitoring the ongoing financial strength of reinsurers in volatile times."

Standard & Poor's European Insurance Practice Leader, Yann Le Pallec added, "There have been some very tough and sometimes unpopular decisions that we've had to make in the past few years, with downgrades outnumbering upgrades by a two-to-one margin since 2002. It's important to us that market participants understand, if not completely agree with, our rating actions, and to us this award symbolizes a recognition that we are doing our best to make the right decisions and explain them to the market."

Concluded.

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