Annual General Meeting of Zurich Allied AG Shareholders approve unification of Group structure

Zurich, May 25, 2000. - At the second Annual General Meeting of Zurich Allied AG held today in Zurich under the chairmanship of Rolf Hüppi, the shareholders overwhelmingly approved the planned unification of the Group structure. The Annual General Meeting similarly approved all other proposals by the Board of Directors. Out of the available earnings, a dividend of CHF 17.15 (before withholding tax) per share will be distributed. This represents an increase of 27% compared with last year’s dividend of CHF 13.50.

Newly elected to the Board of Directors was Franz B. Humer, Chief Executive Officer at F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG and Member of the Board of Directors of Roche Holding AG in Basel. Lord Cairns and Vernon L. Sankey were reelected for another three-year term of office, and Henry C. M. Bodmer for an additional one-year term. Karl Otto Pöhl declined to stand for re-election; Chairman of the Board Rolf Hüppi thanked him for his great contribution during his eight years on the Boards of Zurich Financial Services and its predecessor companies.

1966 shareholders were present at the Annual General Meeting of Zurich Allied AG and represented 10,436,014 voting shares.