AEGON Releases Details of Lehman Brothers Exposure and Reiterates Confidence in the Group's Financial Position
September 16 2008 - 1:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
THE HAGUE, The Netherlands, September 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
AEGON has released details of its exposure to Lehman Brothers,
following reports that the trading firm has filed a petition for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US: - AEGON does not hold
common equity in Lehman Brothers. - During 2008, AEGON has actively
lowered its exposure to Lehman Brothers by approximately 20%. As of
September 12, 2008, AEGON had a total general account fixed income
exposure of EUR 265 million. This amount includes Credit Default
Swaps-related exposure to Lehman Brothers. - The ultimate effect of
a default by Lehman Brothers on AEGON's excess capital and net
income will be substantially lower than EUR 265 million as a result
of a variety of factors, including taxes and recovery values. -
AEGON also has counter party exposure to Lehman Brothers through
derivatives contracts and securities lending transactions. This
exposure is either collateralized or on bankruptcy remote entities.
The effect of unwinding these transactions is not expected to have
a material impact on the Group's earnings or capital position.
AEGON's Chief Financial Officer Jos Streppel said: "AEGON continues
to have a strong balance sheet and ample liquidity. Our financial
flexibility of EUR 1.8 billion at the end of the second quarter
provides additional assurance. We remain confident in AEGON's
ability to weather the challenging market environment and fulfill
our obligations to our customers and many other key stakeholders."
AEGON is one of the world's largest life insurance and pension
groups, and a strong provider of investment products. AEGON
empowers local business units to identify and provide products and
services that meet the evolving needs of customers, using
distribution channels best suited to local markets. AEGON takes
pride in balancing a local approach with the power of an expanding
global operation. With headquarters in The Hague, the Netherlands,
AEGON companies employ approximately 31,500 people worldwide.
AEGON's businesses serve millions of customers in over twenty
markets throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia. Total revenue
generating assets amounted to EUR 344 billion at June 30, 2008.
Respect, quality, transparency and trust constitute AEGON's core
values as the company continually strives to meet the expectations
of customers, shareholders, employees and business partners. AEGON
is driven to deliver new thinking with the ambition to be the best
in the industry. Forward-looking statements The statements
contained in this press release that are not historical facts are
forward-looking statements as defined in the US Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The following are words that
identify such forward-looking statements: believe, estimate,
target, intend, may, expect, anticipate, predict, project, counting
on, plan, continue, want, forecast, should, would, is confident,
will, and similar expressions as they relate to our company. These
statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve
risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict.
We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any
forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place
undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which merely
reflect company expectations at the time of writing. Actual results
may differ materially from expectations conveyed in forward-looking
statements due to changes caused by various risks and
uncertainties. Such risks and uncertainties include but are not
limited to the following: - Changes in general economic conditions,
particularly in the United States, the Netherlands and the United
Kingdom; - Changes in the performance of financial markets,
including emerging markets, such as with regard to: - The frequency
and severity of defaults by issuers in our fixed income investment
portfolios; and - The effects of corporate bankruptcies and/or
accounting restatements on the financial markets and the resulting
decline in the value of equity and debt securities we hold; - The
frequency and severity of insured loss events; - Changes affecting
mortality, morbidity and other factors that may impact the
profitability of our insurance products; - Changes affecting
interest rate levels and continuing low or rapidly changing
interest rate levels; - Changes affecting currency exchange rates,
in particular the EUR/USD and EUR/GBP exchange rates; - Increasing
levels of competition in the United States, the Netherlands, the
United Kingdom and emerging markets; - Changes in laws and
regulations, particularly those affecting our operations, the
products we sell, and the attractiveness of certain products to our
consumers; - Regulatory changes relating to the insurance industry
in the jurisdictions in which we operate; - Acts of God, acts of
terrorism, acts of war and pandemics; - Changes in the policies of
central banks and/or governments; - Litigation or regulatory action
that could require us to pay significant damages or change the way
we do business; - Customer responsiveness to both new products and
distribution channels; - Competitive, legal, regulatory, or tax
changes that affect the distribution cost of or demand for our
products; - Our failure to achieve anticipated levels of earnings
or operational efficiencies as well as other cost saving
initiatives; and - The impact our adoption of the International
Financial Reporting Standards may have on our reported financial
results and financial condition. Group Corporate Communications
& Investor Relations Media relations Phone: +31-(0)70-344-8344
E-mail: Investor relations Phone: +31-(0)70-344-8305 or
+1-877-548-9668 toll free USA only E-mail: Website
http://www.aegon.com/ DATASOURCE: AEGON N.V. CONTACT: Group
Corporate Communications & Investor Relations: Media relations,
Phone: +31-(0)70-344-8344, E-mail: . Investor relations: Phone:
+31-(0)70-344-8305 or +1-877-548-9668 toll free USA only, E-mail:
Copyright