ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Masahiro Okafuji, President & CEO; hereinafter “ITOCHU”) announced that Cosmos Services Co., Ltd. (headquartered in Hong Kong; Kazuhiro Yamamoto, President; hereinafter “Cosmos”), an insurance broking subsidiary of ITOCHU, has established a new insurance broking company in Singapore, called Cosmos Risk Solutions Asia Pte. Ltd. This is a joint venture with the Korean insurance company, Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance Co., Ltd. (headquartered in Seoul; Tai-Chang Seo, President & CEO; hereinafter “Hyundai Insurance”), and is primarily focused on the reinsurance broking business. Cosmos Risk Solutions Asia is the first reinsurance broking company to be established in Singapore in which a Japan-affiliated enterprise holds the majority stake.

In addition to Hong Kong, Cosmos operates offices in Korea, Taiwan and Thailand as well as in the UK, and has been expanding its reinsurance broking business by responding to the reinsurance needs of insurance companies in Japan and other Asian countries. With UK Cosmos Risk Solutions, the first Lloyd’s broker for a company of Japanese origin, Cosmos Group has more than 30 years of experience and operating expertise in the reinsurance broking business as a leading Japanese reinsurance broker.

Hyundai Insurance is a leading nonlife insurer, managing more than 9,000 insurance agents in South Korea, with 5,343 million USD in premium income in 2009. Hyundai Insurancehas a diversified portfolio including motor, fire, and marine cargo. It has expertise cultivated through more than 50 years in the nonlife insurance business.

Insurance markets in Asia are growing at a rapid pace with regional economic development, and reinsurance demand from local insurance companies in the region is increasing. In recent years, Singapore has become a major reinsurance hub in Asia, and is home to a growing number of reinsurance companies. Noting this trend, Cosmos decided to establish Cosmos Risk Solutions Asia Pte. Ltd. with Hyundai Insurance as its strategic joint venture partner.

The new company will enable Cosmos to increase its transactions with reinsurance companies in Singapore, as well as to expand from the Korean insurance market in cooperation with Hyundai Insurance. In addition, the new company intends to meet reinsurance needs in the growing Southeast Asian market, harnessing Hyundai Insurance’s expertise as an insurance company, along with Cosmos’ operating expertise of a reinsurance broker and its network of reinsurance companies. Cosmos is also planning to extend its activities to the Indian and Middle Eastern insurance markets in the near future.

Outline of Cosmos Risk Solutions Asia Pte. Ltd.

Outline of Cosmos Services Co., Ltd.

Establishment	1974
Head office	Hong Kong
President	Kazuhiro Yamamoto
No. of Staff	80
Business	Insurance & Reinsurance broking and Risk consulting
URL	http://www.cosmos-services.com.hk/home.html

Outline of Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance Co., Ltd.

Establishment	1955
Head office	Seoul
President	Tai-Chang Seo
No. of Staff	2,969
Business	Non-Life Insurer
URL	http://www.hi.co.kr/