AOC Aon Corp.

CHICAGO, Feb. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Risk managers of multinational corporations would do well to follow closely the escalating protests over Danish cartoons satirizing the Prophet Muhammad in Europe and the Middle East, according to Aon Trade Credit Managing Director Bryan Squibb. (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20041215/CGW049LOGO ) President Bush has called for an end to the escalating violence. On Monday, Afghan troops opened fire on some 2,000 protesters, while Iranian police used tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters hurling stones and firebombs at the Danish Embassy in Tehran. A teenager in Somalia was killed as police, dispersing protesters, triggered a stampede. In Syria, both the Danish and Norwegian missions were burned. "The spread of violence emanating from the original publications in Danish press has clearly demonstrated how the 'domino' effect can impact trade relations and equity and investment decisions," Squibb says. "Multinational corporations have to create business risk scenarios, and monitor supply, assembly and distribution channels." Squibb points out that while religious fundamentalism in and of itself does not necessarily have any detrimental impact on global trade or equity investments, "extreme reactions to events often impact greatly on trade. The peripheral nature of such events can touch countries worldwide," he says. The European Union has reportedly reminded 18 Muslim countries that they are obliged under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations to protect foreign embassies, Austria has expressed concern for the safety of diplomatic missions to the Organization of the Islamic Conference and the prime ministers of Spain and Turkey have appealed for calm. To arrange an interview, please contact a member of the Aon Public Relations Team (Al Orendorff at 312-381-3153, Thaddeus Woosley at 312.381.2446 or Dave Van de Walle at 312.381.5028). About Aon Aon Corporation ( http://www.aon.com/ ) (NYSE:AOC) is a leading provider of risk management services, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, human capital and management consulting, and specialty insurance underwriting. There are 47,000 employees working in Aon's 500 offices in more than 120 countries. Backed by broad resources, industry knowledge and technical expertise, Aon professionals help a wide range of clients develop effective risk management and workforce productivity solutions. This press release contains certain statements related to future results, or states our intentions, beliefs and expectations or predictions for the future which are forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from either historical or anticipated results depending on a variety of factors. Potential factors that could impact results include: general economic conditions in different countries in which we do business around the world, changes in global equity and fixed income markets that could affect the return on invested assets, fluctuations in exchange and interest rates that could influence revenue and expense, rating agency actions that could affect our ability to borrow funds, funding of our various pension plans, changes in the competitive environment, changes in commercial property and casualty markets and commercial premium rates that could impact revenues, changes in revenues and earnings due to the elimination of contingent commissions, other uncertainties surrounding a new compensation model, the impact of regulatory investigations brought by state attorneys general and state insurance regulators related to our compensation arrangements with underwriters and related issues, the impact of class actions and individual lawsuits including client class actions, securities class actions, derivative actions, and ERISA class actions, the cost of resolution of other contingent liabilities and loss contingencies, and the difference in ultimate paid claims in our underwriting companies from actuarial estimates. Further information concerning the Company and its business, including factors that potentially could materially affect the Company's financial results, is contained in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. First Call Analyst: FCMN Contact: Al_Orendorff@asc.aon.com http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20041215/CGW049LOGO http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Aon Corporation CONTACT: Al Orendorff, +1-312-381-3153, Thaddeus Woosley, +1-312-381-2446, or Dave Van de Walle, +1-312-381-5028, all of Aon Corporation Web site: http://www.aon.com/

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