ITU Itau Unibanco Banco Multiplo S.A.

HAMILTON, Bermuda, Jan. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- XL Capital Ltd (NYSE:XL) ("XL") today announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understandings to form a joint venture insurance company in Brazil with Banco Itau Holding Financeira S.A. (NYSE:ITU) ("Itau"). The proposed joint venture is subject to regulatory approvals, negotiation of definitive documents and other conditions. A closing date has not been set. The proposed joint venture would combine the current Brazilian Property, Casualty and Specialty commercial insurance books of XL and Itau. Mr. Clive Tobin, Chief Executive of XL's Insurance Operations, said: "I believe that this joint venture continues to reinforce XL's strategy to be a leading market in all major territories, and we are delighted to be joining forces in Brazil with such a highly respected organization as Banco Itau. We look forward to servicing the local needs of our combined clients, as well as providing them with access to products and services across our global network. This is an important commitment for both our companies, and I believe it positions us well to meet the needs of clients today and after the eventual opening of the Brazilian reinsurance market." Mr. Luiz de Campos Salles, CEO of Itau Seguros, stated: "Itau is one of the leaders in Brazil's financial and insurance community. This joint venture is expected to combine Itau's Brazilian market expertise and penetration with XL's outstanding knowledge and access to reinsurance capacity in commercial lines and large insurance risks. We strongly believe that this joint venture will create a winning platform to develop this market in Brazil, with advantages to our clients and brokers." XL Capital Ltd, through its operating subsidiaries, is a leading provider of insurance and reinsurance coverage and financial products and services to industrial, commercial and professional service firms, insurance companies and other enterprises on a worldwide basis. As of September 30, 2005, XL Capital Ltd had consolidated assets of approximately $54.9 billion and consolidated shareholders' equity of approximately $7.0 billion. More information about XL Capital Ltd is available at http://www.xlcapital.com/ . Banco Itau Holding Financeira S.A. is the second largest private bank in Brazil in terms of assets and one of the largest in terms of market capitalization among Latin American Banks. It is the third largest provider of commercial lines insurance in Brazil. As of September 30, 2005, Itau had assets of $65 billion and shareholders' equity of $6.9 billion. This press release contains forward-looking statements. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about XL's beliefs, plans or expectations, are forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current plans and expectations. Actual results may differ materially from those included in such forward-looking statements and, therefore, you should not place undue reliance on them. A non-exclusive list of the important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements includes the following: (a) slower than expected changes in the insurance regulatory environment in Brazil; (b) trends in rates for property and casualty insurance and reinsurance; (c) changes in general economic conditions, including foreign currency exchange rates, inflation and other factors; (d) developments in the world's financial and capital markets that adversely affect the performance of XL's investments or access to such markets; and (e) the other factors set forth in XL's most recent reports on Form 10-K, Form 10-Q, and other documents on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as management's response to any of the aforementioned factors. XL undertakes no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise. DATASOURCE: XL Capital Ltd CONTACT: David R. Radulski, Investor Relations, +1-441-294-7460, or Roger R. Scotton, Media Relations, +1-441-294-7165, both of XL Capital Ltd Web site: http://www.xlcapital.com/

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