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On the occasion of the company's 125th anniversary and in celebration
thereof, the Ordinary General Meeting of Swiss National Insurance
Company, chaired by Dr René Theler, Chairman of the Board of
Directors, was held today in Basel in a festive atmosphere. The
shareholders approved the 2007 annual report and the annual financial
statements. The General Meeting agreed to the proposal put forward by
the Board of Directors to increase the distribution of profits in the
form of dividends and par-value repayments. In addition, the
shareholders supported the proposal to generate authorised share
capital of up to CHF 2.8 million. Stephan A. J. Bachmann was newly
elected to the Board of Directors.



The 292 shareholders present represented 274 396 registered shares. A
total of 399 470 shares were represented including proxy shares. This
corresponds to 38.04% of shareholder votes.

Reduction of capital by par-value repayments
The General Meeting agreed on a total dividend of CHF 30 per share.
This will be in the form of a dividend payment of CHF 18 and a
par-value repayment of CHF 12 per share. Share capital will therefore
be reduced from CHF 21 million to CHF 12.6 million as a result. A
par-value repayment is particularly advantageous for individuals who
personally own shares and are subject to tax in Switzerland. Despite
the par-value repayment, the substantial allocation of CHF 20 million
to free reserves will strengthen shareholders' equity.

Creation of authorised share capital
With this strategy, Nationale Suisse is pursuing focused business
development based on organic growth. Part of this strategy is also to
systematically identify and realise acquisition opportunities. In
order to be able to access the requisite capital quickly if needed,
the Board of Directors proposed the creation of authorised share
capital to today's General Meeting. As is normal in such cases, the
Board of Directors can limit or exclude shareholders' subscription
rights. However, the conditions governing exclusion are very tight,
and whether or not this option is exercised depends on the specific
requirements of the company's growth strategy. This proposal, which
makes possible an increase in share capital of up to 350 000 new
registered shares in two years, was approved.

Corporate governance
Dr René Theler was re-elected to the Board of Directors for a further
two-year period. Felix Stählin resigned from his position at today's
General Meeting. In addition, Stephan A. J. Bachmann was newly
elected to the Board of Directors of the Swiss National Insurance
Company for a period of four years, with effect from 1 July 2008. He
was a partner at Pricewaterhouse-Coopers, where he was responsible
for the auditing area and was a member of the assurance core team. Mr
Bachmann is expected to take over as chairman of the Audit Committee.
Dr Theler informed the General Meeting that, at its last meeting, the
Board of Directors decided to create a Nomination and Compensation
Committee; this is part of the drive to continually improve corporate
governance. The newly created Committee is made up of members of the
Board of Directors: Dr Walter Grüebler (chairman), Dr Peter Kämmerer
and Peter Merian.

Nationale Suisse celebrates its 125th anniversary
Nationale Suisse can look back on 125 years of company history in
2008. To mark this occasion, the General Meeting took on a more
festive form. In its anniversary year, the insurance company is
organising a large number of events and festivities for its
shareholders, staff, clients and the general public. To further mark
its anniversary, Nationale Suisse is supporting the nationwide UNICEF
campaign week "Help by playing", during which fund-raising campaigns
will be carried out in more than 27 Swiss cities. The highlight of
the campaign week will be a display of lights in Basel created by
internationally renowned artist Valerio Festi.




Brief profile
Nationale Suisse is an innovative,       The headquarters of Swiss
international Swiss insurer providing    National Insurance Company
first-rate risk and pension solutions    is in Basel. Nationale
and tailored niche products. The Group   Suisse is listed on the SWX
has gross premiums of CHF 1.87 billion,  Swiss Exchange (NATN). On 31
one third of which come from their       December 2007 the Group
subsidiaries in Germany, Belgium, Italy  employed 1,851 persons
and Spain.                               (1,721 FTEs).

Downloads                                Disclaimer
You can access this media release on our Swiss National Insurance
website www.nationalesuisse.ch under     Company wishes to point out
Medien/Medienmitteilung.                 that any forward-looking
                                         statements in this report
                                         are based on projections,
                                         estimates and assumptions.
                                         The influence of uncertain
                                         and unforeseeable
                                         circumstances and certain
                                         risks may mean that actual
                                         performance deviates
                                         significantly from our
                                         expectations.

Information
Sabrina Pagnetti                         Nationale Suisse
Head of Information & Communication      Steinengraben 41
Tel.           +41 61 275 22 33          4003 Basel
Fax           +41 61 275 22 21           www.nationalesuisse.ch
sabrina.pagnetti@nationalesuisse.ch

Important dates
Publication of Semi-Annual Report        22.09.2008


 
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Nationale Suisse
Steinengraben 41 Basel 

WKN: 1081197; ISIN: 
CH0010811971; Index: SMCI, SPI, SPIEX;
Listed: Main Market in SWX Swiss Exchange;
http://hugin.info/100296/R/1220746/256605.pdf


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