March 27, 2000 Full-scale Alliance and Scheduled Merger of The Sumitomo M&F and Mitsui M&F Purpose of Merger With a mutual understanding that the customer satisfaction is always our top priority, and with fundamental respect for each others individual qualities and strengths, the two companies will seek the best and most economically rational operations, and through merging will: be better able to respond to customer needs by expanding business bases, claims handling centers, and sales and marketing networks, improve operating efficiency by eliminating duplicated costs and to increase income through the most efficient use of capital, and boost competitiveness in such areas as product development, sales and marketing, systems development, and asset management. Furthermore, through the merger, the two companies will aggressively expand into growth sectors such as life insurance, financial services and risk-related service businesses.