May 31, 2000 Update on Preparations for the Merger of Sumitomo Marine and Mitsui Marine The Sumitomo Marine & Fire Insurance Co., Ltd. Mitsui Marine & Fire Insurance Co., Ltd. With an eye on the upcoming merger in October 2001, The Sumitomo Marine andFire Insurance Co., Ltd. (Hiroyuki Uemura, President) and Mitsui Marine and FireInsurance Co., Ltd.(Takeo Inokuchi, President and CEO) have made an early start in conducting joint businesses and are energetically making preparations as below,provided, however, that any act and thing to implement any item listed below shall bepreformed only to the extent that the compliance with any and all applicable laws hasbeen ensured, in particular the requirements under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 and other U.S. antitrust laws and regulations. I. Extensive Study of Systems Integration II. Intergration of Subsidiaries and Affiliates III. Personal Exchange (About 200 Empoyees)   IV. Joint Research and Development of Insurance Products V. Reciprocal Use of Claims Survey Subsidiaries   VI. Business Tie-Ups Overseas VII. Joint Sales of Mutual Funds