Zurich Insurance Company South Africa Limited Zurich attains “A” rating from the Financial Sector Charter Council

Johannesburg, February 12, 2008 – Zurich Insurance Company South Africa Limited (Zurich), a signatory to the Financial Sector Charter, has attained an “A” rating from the Charter Council having achieved an overall score in excess of 80 percent of the Broad Based BEE target.

CEO Nick Beyers said: “This result is extremely pleasing. It underpins our commitment to actively contribute to the promotion of a transformed, vibrant and globally competitive financial sector that reflects the demographics of South Africa. At Zurich we pride ourselves on playing a key role in contributing to the establishment of an equitable society.”

For the 2006 reporting period, the Council required that the Scorecard be audited before submission. The services of PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc. (PWC) were engaged to complete the “external verification process”. During the third quarter, Zurich received the final audit report in which the company received an overall “satisfactory report” which essentially confirmed the correctness of the data submitted to the Council.

Zurich is a signatory to the Charter and committed to the achievement of its objectives. As such there are certain targets that we must achieve over a 10-year period. The Charter constitutes a framework and establishes the principles upon which BEE should be implemented in the financial sector and outlines the process for implementation and mechanisms to monitor and report on progress.

“Attaining these targets has been a challenge but, with the dedication of a committed team, Zurich is progressing well,” said Beyers.