Zurich North America Provides Political Risk Coverage for Banco Bradesco and AmBev in Brazil.

Business Editors

SCHAUMBURG, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 8, 2002

Transactions Demonstrate Region's Growing Use of

Specialized Insurance to Manage Risk

Zurich North America, a leading provider of insurance, financial and risk management solutions, announced that its Zurich Emerging Markets Solutions (ZEMS) group recently structured two new capital markets transactions in Brazil, underscoring the growing use of specialized insurance to manage risk in that marketplace.

In the first transaction, the ZEMS group provided a political risk insurance (PRI) policy for a $150 million bond issue by the Grand Cayman branch of Banco Bradesco S.A. In the second, ZEMS provided PRI coverage for a $500 million, ten-year bond issue by Companhia Brasileira de Bebidas (CBB), guaranteed by its parent Companhia de Bebidas das Americas (AmBev).

Daniel Riordan, executive vice president and managing director at Zurich Emerging Markets Solutions, said, "Political risk insurance coverage is a key component of capital markets transactions that more and more investors in emerging markets are counting on, especially in this period of market uncertainty. These two transactions demonstrate the growing acceptance of PRI in obtaining investment grade or above ratings as well as our market leadership in this area."