A.M. Best Affirms and Withdraws Ratings of AXA RE

OLDWICK, N.J., Jul 07, 2008 (A. M. Best via COMTEX) -- AXA | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of A- (Excellent) and the issuer credit rating (ICR) of ?a-? of AXA RE (France). Subsequently, A.M. Best has withdrawn the ratings and assigned a category NR-4 (Company Request).

The ratings reflect the company?s strong capitalization and the AXA S.A. (AXA RE?s ultimate parent company) joint guarantee with AXA RE on the reserves prior to 1 January 2006, which were ceded to PARIS RE S.A. (PARIS RE) (France).

Following the cession of its business to PARIS RE in December 2006, AXA RE transferred the vast majority of its reserves to PARIS RE through a quota share agreement. AXA RE was acting as a fronting company to PARIS RE from the cession date until the end of September 2007. AXA Reinsurance UK Plc and AXA RE Finance, both of which are run-off companies, remain subsidiaries of AXA RE.

A.M. Best expects AXA RE to remain adequately capitalized and to continue the orderly run off of its existing claims reserves. The reserves prior to 1 January 2006 are jointly guaranteed by AXA S.A. and AXA RE, and the reserves since 1 January 2006 are ceded to PARIS RE through a quota share agreement.

For Best?s Ratings, an overview of the rating process and rating methodologies, please visit http://www.ambest.com/ratings.

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