FORTIS

Fortis is today publishing its new Governance Charter[1] on www.fortis.com. This
charter replaces the Governance Statement of the old Fortis.



Fortis  has revised  its Corporate  Governance Charter  in order to harmonise it
with  the changed  composition and  character of  the business  and with the new
national  and international regulations and  guidelines introduced in the course
of 2009. The Board of Directors approved the new charter on 9 March 2010.



The  composition  and  powers  of  the  various  management committees have been
revised   and  a  new  Corporate  Governance  Committee  formed.  A  streamlined
management  structure  has  been  introduced,  whereby  the  (Group)  Management
Committee   advises  the  (Group)  Executive  Committee  and  encourages  closer
collaboration with the operational companies in the various countries.



The  charter also refers  to the remuneration  policy for both non-executive and
executive board members. This section will be submitted for approval at the next
shareholders'' meeting, although this is not expressly required by either Belgian
or  Dutch  regulations/legislation  on  corporate  governance.  The remuneration
policy will therefore not appear on the website for the time being.



Lastly, it is important to mention that when drawing up the charter the Board of
Directors used as reference the Corporate Governance Code adopted by Belgium and
published  on  12 March  2009, which  applies  to reporting years from 1 January
2009 onwards.



The  charter  was  also  comprehensively  tested  against  the  Dutch  Corporate
Governance  Code (the  ''Code Frijns'').  This revised  Dutch Corporate Governance
Code  came into  effect on  1 January 2009 after  being incorporated  into Dutch
company law by means of a decree on 3 December 2009.



The new Fortis Governance Charter is presently available only in English. Dutch
and French versions will be published on the website at the end of March.



















Fortis is an international insurance company with a heritage spanning more than
180 years. Ranked among the top 20 insurers in Europe, Fortis has chosen to
concentrate its business activities in Europe and Asia, which together make up
the largest share of the global insurance market. It is an undisputed leader in
the Belgian market for individual life and employee benefits, as well as a
leading non-life player through AG Insurance. Internationally, Fortis has a
strong presence in the UK, where it is the second largest private car insurer.
The company also has subsidiaries in France, Germany, Turkey, Ukraine and Hong
Kong. Fortis has a strong track record in developing partnerships with key
distributors in different markets and successfully operates partnerships in
Luxembourg, Italy, Portugal, China, Malaysia, India and Thailand. Fortis employs
more than 10,000 people and has annual inflows of around EUR 15 billion.

Fortis''s assets include a 75% stake in AG Insurance; 100% of Fortis Insurance
International; a 45% stake in Royal Park Investments; and other financial assets
and liabilities of various financing vehicles.






  Press Contacts:



  Brussels:             +32 (0)2 565 22 66



  Investor Relations:



  Brussels:             +32 (0)2 565 53 78   Utrecht:   +31 (0)30 226 65 66





PR 2010 - 007


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[1] The Governance Charter describes the corporate governance of Fortis. The
Governance Statement will henceforth be a chapter in the Annual Review 2009 as
prescribed in Principle 9.3 of the Belgian Corporate Governance Code 2009 and in
the Dutch ''Decree of 20 March 2009 to amend the Decree of 23 December 2004 to
establsih further instructions concerning the content of the annual report''.



[HUG#1393642]





    Pdf version press release: http://hugin.info/134212/R/1393642/350713.pdf


  

Original source