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SCOR: SCOR wins 'Catastrophe Risk Transaction of the Year' award from Environmental Finance

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^{Published in Health and Fitness on Thursday, July 23rd 2009 at 6:19 GMT, Last Modified on 2009-07-23 06:19:45 by Market Wire}  

PARIS--(Marketwire - July 23, 2009) - Press release

23 July 2009

For further information please contact:

Beat Werder +33 (0)1 46 98 71 39

Chief Communications Officer

Marco Circelli +44 (0) 207 553 8106

Head of Group Corporate Finance & Financial Communications

SCOR wins "Catastrophe Risk Transaction of the Year" award from Environmental Finance

Environmental Finance magazine has named SCOR as the winner of this year's "Catastrophe Risk Transaction of the Year" award for its "Atlas V" transaction carried out in February 2009. Environmental Finance is a leading monthly industry magazine covering the ever-increasing impact of environmental issues on the lending, insurance, investment and trading decisions affecting industry.

On 19 February 2009, SCOR closed the three series of its "Atlas V" catastrophe bond, the first "cat bond" issued worldwide in six months. The multi-year property catastrophe ("CAT") agreement with Atlas V Capital Limited ("Atlas V") provides protection of USD 200 million of protection for exposures to earthquakes and hurricanes in the USA and Puerto Rico. At SCOR, Emmanuel Durousseau, Head of Retrocession Management, and Augustin Gas, Head of ILS and Alternative Retrocession, pioneered the Atlas V transaction.

The award recognises the fact that SCOR effectively re-opened the catastrophe bond market after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008 and highlights the innovative features that have become trademarks of the "Atlas V" cat bond, notably the new and substantially improved transparency and security standards for investors.

In particular, Environmental Finance distinguishes the improvements in managing counterparty risk for SCOR and investors by employing a much-enhanced total return swap structure and the full and permanent transparency regarding the asset development of the collateral for investors. The use of US-government-backed debt obligations as the underlying securities and the top-up "margining" facility by the total return swap counterparty, which guarantees that the collateral will constantly be replenished in the event of a drop in the underlying security were also considered to be key features of innovation.

Jean-Luc Besson, SCOR's Chief Risk Officer commented: "SCOR is honoured to receive this prestigious award, as judged by an editorial panel of senior risk editors and staff writers, and congratulates the team who structured the transaction for this recognition. Risk management at SCOR has historically relied on traditional retrocession and catastrophe bonds. With seven transactions completed, SCOR is a frequent issuer of Insurance Linked Securities and a global leader in this field."

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Forward-looking statements

SCOR does not communicate "profit forecasts" in the sense of Article 2 of (EC) Regulation n degrees809/2004 of the European Commission. Thus, any forward-.looking statements contained in this communication should not be held as corresponding to such profit forecasts. Information in this communication may include "forward-looking statements", including but not limited to statements that are predictions of or indicate future events, trends, plans or objectives, based on certain assumptions and include any statement which does not directly relate to a historical fact or current fact. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words or phrases such as, without limitation, "anticipate", "assume", "believe", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "foresee", "intend", "may increase" and "may fluctuate" and similar expressions or by future or conditional verbs such as, without limitations, "will", "should", "would" and "could." Undue reliance should not be placed on such statements, because, by their nature, they are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause actual results, on the one hand, to differ from any results expressed or implied by the present communication, on the other hand.

Please refer to SCOR's document de référence filed with the AMF on 5 March 2009 under number D.09-0099 (the "Document de Référence"), for a description of certain important factors, risks and uncertainties that may affect the business of the SCOR Group. As a result of the extreme and unprecedented volatility and disruption of the current global financial crisis, SCOR is exposed to significant financial, capital market and other risks, including movements in interest rates, credit spreads, equity prices, and currency movements, changes in rating agency policies or practices, and the lowering or loss of financial strength or other ratings.

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