TSUNAMI DISASTER

Monday, January 10, 2005

To assist the immediate relief effort, we are making exceptional donations to the International Red Cross and Unicef, which we hope will go along way to alleviate the suffering of the victims of this catastrophe.

While responding to the urgent needs of those struck by this human tragedy, Atradius, as an insurer of international trade, is also committed to ongoing support for trade with the countries affected. Once these stricken regions and their people have recovered, it is vital that, as well as humanitarian aid, the rest of the world provides the means of long term economic recovery, through continued commerce and trade.

For those of you who are currently trading in the affected areas, we wish to outline our underwriting position.

We are witnessing fundamentally a major human tragedy. It is too early to assess both the short and longer term economic impacts. Our intention is to manage our existing risks and to take on new risks as appropriate, especially where the supply of necessary goods to the regions affected are concerned. Atradius will continue to support domestic and international trade and it is not our way of doing business to withdraw support when human disaster strikes.

It is also too early to make any fundamental assessment of the potential impact on the economy of the countries affected by the tsunami.

In the meantime, contact points have been set up to answer customer inquiries about on-going business affected:

Australia / Asia: Simon McMahon
France, Belgium, Spain, and Italy: Wilfried Giner
Germany: Wencke Mull and Benedikt Minzl. Silke Baum and Astrid Redeker (claims)
Netherlands: Dirk Spaargaren and Yola Tan. Ruud Hoogland (claims)
Nordic: Rudiger Hass and Johannes Larsen
USA: Bob Wanuga. Donna Messick (claims)
UK: Malcolm Terry