FITCH RATINGS FOR ACTIVA INSURANCE

Fitch Ratings has recently placed Activa Insurance S.A.'s (Activa) Insurer Financial Strength (IFS) 'BBB+' rating on Rating Watch Positive (RWP).
This follows the announcement by EFG Eurolife Insurance (Eurolife), a subsidiary of EFG Eurobank Ergasias (Eurobank, IDR 'A'/Stable), to purchase 100% of Activa from its Cypriot owner, Commercial General Insurance Ltd., pending regulatory approval. The RWP reflects the potential credit benefit for Activa as part of a significantly larger group and potential revenue synergy available to the merged entity. Eurobank is the second-largest bank in Greece by assets, with EUR119 billion as at end-June 2008. Eurolife, as Eurobank's insurance subsidiary, wrote gross general insurance premium of EUR26.8 million in 2007, mainly of household business generated through the parent bank's mortgage loans. The acquisition is expected to expand Eurolife's general insurance business both in terms of distribution channels and type of exposures. Fitch expects to resolve the RWP in November this year, when the acquisition is expected to be approved by the Greek regulatory authority. The resolution of the RWP will depend on the strategic position of the merged entity to Eurobank and would most likely be an affirmation of the current IFS 'BBB+' rating or a single-notch upgrade to 'A-' http://www.fitchratings.com. Published ratings, criteria and methodologies are available from this site, at all times. Fitch's code of conduct, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, affiliate firewall, compliance and other relevant policies and procedures are also available from the 'Code of Conduct' section of this site.