Crédit Agricole Assurances has successfully launched its inaugural €750 million issue of Undated Subordinated Fixed Rate Resettable Notes

Crédit Agricole Assurances is announcing the successful launch on 7 October 2014 of its inaugural €750 million issue of Undated Subordinated Fixed Rate Resettable Notes (the “Notes”).

The prospectus for the issue includes a full description of the terms and conditions of the Notes. The Notes have no fixed maturity date and will bear a fixed interest rate of 4.5% until 14 October 2025, after which date the rate will be reset. Interest payments are subject to deferral at the issuer’s option, or should the Crédit Agricole Assurances Group fail to meet its solvency margin requirement, or should the relevant supervisory authority (the “Supervisor,” currently the Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution) so request. Such deferrals are subject to conditions related to the payment of dividends by Crédit Agricole Assurances.

The Notes may be redeemed early at the issuer’s discretion on 14 October 2025. Thereafter, they may be redeemed at the issuer’s option on each annual coupon payment date, subject to the prior approval of the Supervisor.

The Notes have been placed with institutional investors in Europe. The quality of the order book reflects the positive perception by investors of Crédit Agricole Assurances and of Crédit Agricole Group’s integrated bancassurance model.

This issue is in line with the capital optimisation policy of the Crédit Agricole Group and of Crédit Agricole Assurances. It will principally be applied to finance the early redemption of the undated subordinated debt issued by Crédit Agricole Assurances, already subscribed by Crédit Agricole S.A.

At the Crédit Agricole Group level, the purposes of this issue are (i) to anticipate the impact of the Solvency II framework on its Basel 3 fully-loaded Tier 1 ratio and (ii) to compensate partially for the change in Standard & Poor’s (S&P’s) treatment of hybrids issued by insurance subsidiaries and subscribed by Crédit Agricole Group companies, in the calculation of its Risk Adjusted Capital (“RAC”) ratio.

For Crédit Agricole Assurances, the purposes of this issue are (i) to anticipate its adaptation to the future Solvency 2 rules in 2016, (ii) to finance the expansion of its business activities, and (iii) to improve S&P’s Total Adjusted Capital (“TAC”).

The issue of the Notes represents a further step in the implementation of Crédit Agricole Group’s strategy regarding the strengthening of its regulatory capital. It underscores the financial flexibility of the Group.

The issue prospectus, which was granted visa no. 14-546 on 10 October 2014 by the Autorité des marchés financiers (the “AMF”), is available free of charge on the website of the Issuer (http://www.ca-assurances.com/espace-investisseurs/notations-et-financements) and on the website of the AMF (www.amf-france.org).