- Mark Pearson to become President & CEO of AXA Life Japan and AXA Japan Holding PARIS, April 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Following the decision by Paul Sampson to resign from his current duties as President and CEO of AXA Life Japan and AXA Japan Holding to rejoin his family in Australia, AXA announces a management changes in the AXA Japan - Asia Pacific Region. -- Paul Sampson (aged 51) will resign from his current positions in Japan effective June 30, 2008 and will relocate to Australia. AXA is pleased that Paul has agreed to continue to serve as a non-executive on the Board of AXA Asia Pacific Holdings. -- Mark Pearson (aged 49), currently CEO of AXA Asia Life -- the regional platform for life insurance in Asia (ex-Japan) -- will subsequently become President & CEO of AXA Life Japan and AXA Japan Holding, replacing of Paul Sampson in these roles. -- This change will not slow the successful execution of Ambition J, AXA's strategic initiative to continue to outperform its competitors in the Japanese market. -- The appointment of a new CEO of AXA Asia Life will be announced in due course. "I have enjoyed immensely my career with AXA, but after being away from Australia for so long I am now looking forward to being with my family and exploring new opportunities there," Paul Sampson said. "We all thank Paul for his commitment to AXA Group and to AXA's insurance operations in Japan since 2000. During this time he played a key role in the integration and successful turnaround of the Japanese operations where he led many operational and strategic initiatives. We understand the family reasons why he wishes to return home to Australia after 12 years. We are fortunate to have a strong set of experienced leaders at AXA and we are convinced that Mark Pearson will excel in his new role in Japan. His recognized leadership skills as well as his thorough knowledge of the challenges our business is facing to adequately serve our customers will prove essential to continue the positive developments of our Japanese operations," said John Dacey, Group Regional CEO for Japan Asia Pacific Region. Mark Pearson -- short biography: Mark Pearson, 49, joined the AXA Group in 1995 when AXA acquired a controlling interest in National Mutual (today AXA Asia Pacific Holdings). He was then CEO of National Mutual Asia, and became thanks to this operation CEO of AXA China Region, AXA-based subsidiary in Hong Kong. In 2001, he was appointed CEO of AXA Asia Life, the platform of AXA life activities in Asia. Mark Pearson had previously spent more than 20 years in the insurance sector, assuming many senior manager positions at National Mutual and Friends Provident. This press release is available on the AXA Group web site http://www.axa.com/ About AXA AXA Group is a worldwide leader in Financial Protection. AXA's operations are diverse geographically, with major operations in Europe, North America and the Asia/Pacific area. Full year 2007 IFRS revenues amounted to Euro 94 billion and adjusted earnings to Euro 6,138 million. The AXA ordinary share is listed on compartment A of Euronext Paris under the ticker symbol CS (ISIN FR0000120628 - Bloomberg: CS FP - Reuters: AXAF.PA). The American Depository Share is also listed on the NYSE under the ticker symbol AXA. IMPORTANT LEGAL INFORMATION AND CAUTIONARY STATEMENTS CONCERNING FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS Certain statements contained herein are forward-looking statements including, but not limited to, statements that are predications of or indicate future events, trends, plans or objectives. Undue reliance should not be placed on such statements because, by their nature, they are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties, including the risk that the proposed acquisition may not be consummated. Please refer to AXA's Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2006 and AXA's Document de Reference for the year ended December 31, 2007, for a description of certain important factors, risks and uncertainties that may affect AXA's business. In particular, please refer to the section "Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" in AXA's Annual Report on Form 20-F. AXA undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any of these forward-looking statements, whether to reflect new information, future events or circumstances or otherwise. DATASOURCE: AXA Group CONTACT: AXA Investor Relations, Etienne Bouas-Laurent, +33-1-40-75-46-85, or Paul-Antoine Cristofari, +33-1-40-75-73-60, or Emmanuel Touzeau, +33-1-40-75-49-05, or George Guerrero, +1-212-314-2893, or AXA Media Relations, Christophe Dufraux, +33-1-40-75-46-74, or Clara Rodrigo, +33-1-40-75-47-22, Armelle Vercken, +33-1-40-75-46-42, or Laurent Secheret, +33-1-40-75-48-17, or Mary Taylor, +1-212-314-5845, or Individual shareholders, +33-1-40-75-48-43 Web site: http://www.axa-equitable.com/

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