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This release was distributed to members of the Financial Press Club and other press in Japan, in Japanese only. The following translation is provided for information only. Manulife Life Insurance Company Transition to a Company Adopting Committees System to Enhance Its Corporate Governance Japan - A resolution to change to the new Company Adopting Committees System was passed at the ordinary general meeting of shareholders of Manulife Life Insurance Company (Head Office: Chofu-shi, Tokyo, President & CEO: Trevor Matthews) on July 28, 2003. Upon the resolution, Manulife Life Insurance Company has become a Company Adopting the Committees System. At the Board of Directors meeting held after the ordinary general meeting, the representative executive officer, an executive officer, and members of the Nomination Committee, Compensation Committee and Audit Committees were appointed, and concurrently the statutory auditors resigned. The Company’s decision to change was made in light of the revision of the Commercial Code that has allowed companies to have options for styles of corporate governance. It follows the basic concept of “separating supervision and execution” shared by those Companies Adopting the Committees System and is more in line with practice in Canada and other parts of the western world. With the transition, the Board of Directors will focus solely on decision-making for fundamental management matters and on monitoring and supervision of management. The execution of daily duties will be largely moved to the executive officers and staff. These changes are expected to facilitate the management decision-making process and the execution of daily duties. Also, by applying the same corporate governance system as that of Manulife Financial, Manulife Japan can strengthen its functional cooperation with the parent company. Trevor Matthews, President and CEO, and newly appointed the representative executive officer, comments on the transition as follows: “Our vision is to become the most professional life insurance company in Japan. Through the transition to a Company Adopting the Committees System, we intend to enhance further our corporate governance and facilitate our management decision-making process. This we believe will enable us to respond to the needs of our stakeholders including our customers, business partners, employees and shareholders, and to build a more solid basis to help achieve our vision.” Manulife Japan, a member company of the Manulife Financial Group headquartered in Canada, holds a top-class"AA+" credit rating from one of the world's most prestigious credit rating agencies, Standard and Poor's Co. (as of June 2003). Manulife Financial is a leading Canadian-based financial services group operating in 15 countries and territories worldwide. Through its extensive network of employees, agents and distribution partners, Manulife Financial offers clients a diverse range of financial protection products and wealth management services. Funds under management by Manulife Financial were Cdn$144.3 billion as at June 30, 2003. Manulife Financial Corporation trades as 'MFC' on the TSX, NYSE and PSE, and under '0945' on the SEHK. Manulife Financial can be found on the Internet at www.manulife.com. -30- For more information, please contact below. Minoru Shimizu Manulife Japan Phone: 0424-42-7076 |
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