S&P’s Affirms Employers Re Corp. Ratings, Off Watch; Outlook Negative

Standard & Poor’s has affirmed its ‘AA-’ counterparty credit and financial strength ratings on Employers Reinsurance Corp. (www.ge.com) and its wholly owned subsidiaries.

Standard & Poor’s also affirmed the ‘A’ counterparty credit and senior
debt ratings on GE Global Insurance Holding Corp., the parent company of GE Capital Services’ reinsurance businesses.

All ratings were removed from CreditWatch where they had initially been placed on Sept. 30, 2002, and subsequently updated on Dec. 6, 2002. The outlook is negative.

“The ratings affirmations follow GE’s 2002 year-end capital contribution of $1.8 billion that offset the fourth-quarter after-tax charge for net loss reserve strengthening and satisfactory review of the underlying documentation of the recent internal legal entity restructuring of the international operations,” Standard & Poor’s credit analyst Grace Osborne said.

The negative outlook reflects uncertainty about whether the management team, given its strong ties to GE, will remain in place and execute its long-term corporate strategy. The management team has taken steps to improve pricing adequacy and operating performance, but Standard & Poor’s believes that it is too early to judge its effectiveness fully.