PARIS, Sept. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- In December 2005, AXA announced that it had entered into an agreement with the Group's union representatives (the RSG agreement) whose aim was to help employees who wanted to carry out a personal project. Today, this agreement is being supplemented by an additional clause that extends the notion of a personal project: AXA promises to help employees who want to carry out a personal project that is in the public interest. The notion of a public interest project encompasses: -- participating in one or more long-term international solidarity projects -- serving in one more or elected positions of local, regional, nationwide or global scope (municipal, regional, national European government or parliament, etc.) -- serving in an appointed capacity (ministerial commission, regional or national economic and social council, etc.) -- occupying a training or teaching position at the national or international level. Cap Cite offers a novel approach to community service based on the dual-volunteer principle - on the part of the employee and his or her employer. Accordingly, while the employee is suspended from his or her job for the duration, the contractual link with the organization is maintained throughout. Personal leave is granted for an initial period of two years, and may be renewed for a total of up to ten years. At the time he or she leaves to carry out the personal project, the employee must satisfy two conditions, age and service related. That is, he or she must be at least 45 years of age and have 17 years of prior service with the company. The service condition is calculated on a sliding scale after 45 - for example, if the employee is 50 years of age, the service requirement is lowered to twelve years, and so on. Throughout the term of his or her project, the employee does not receive a salary from the company. However, a number of employee benefits are maintained. Once the project is completed, the employee may choose to end his or her employment contract or return to occupy a position that is equivalent to the one held before departure. "Through Cap Cite, AXA seeks to facilitate the personal investment of its employees in the community through local elective office, educational initiatives or a more or less long-term commitment to humanitarian actions. With the assurance that they will have a job waiting when they return to AXA, AXA employees will be encouraged to put their generosity and desire to work for the community as a whole. This innovative measure addresses our desire to make AXA an employer of choice," noted Henri de Castries, Chairman of the AXA Management Board. About the AXA Group The 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. For full year 2007, IFRS revenues amounted to Euro 93.6 billion and IFRS adjusted earnings to Euro 6.1 billion. 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. About AXA France AXA France supports its 9 million clients-individuals, professionals and businesses - at every step in their life, by offering customized solutions and advice. AXA France offers them a complete range of products and services, from the protection of their property and loved ones to their personal assets and estate, not to mention savings, banking services, employee benefits, personal protection and services such as assistance and legal expense. With revenues of 22 billion euros and underlying earnings of 931 million euros in 2007, AXA France confirms its financial strength. This press release is available on the AXA Group website: http://www.axa.com/ AXA France media relations Valerie Leselbaum : 01 47 74 32 21 - Gerard Narbey: 01 47 74 16 67 - AXA Group media relations Christophe Dufraux: +33 1 40.75.46.74 - Laurent Secheret: +33 1 40 75 48 17 - Armelle Vercken: +33 1 40 75 46 42 - DATASOURCE: AXA Group CONTACT: Valerie Leselbaum, 01-47-74-32-21, , Gerard Narbey, 01-47-74-16-67, , both of AXA France; Christophe Dufraux, +33-1-40-75-46-74, , Laurent Secheret, +33-1-40-75-48-17, , Armelle Vercken, +33-1-40-75-46-42, , all of AXA Group Web site: http://www.axa.com/ http://www.axa-equitable.com/

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