LONDON, 12 July 2006 –The impending extradition of the three Nat West bankers to the US will most likely have a knock on effect to the directors and officers’ (D&O) insurance market but should not result in raised premiums, according to Aon Limited, a leading insurance broker and risk management consultant.

Adam Codrington, executive director within Aon’s Professional Risks unit, said: “It would be an overreaction if insurers looked to raise the price of D&O cover or charged extra to cover the threat of extradition but buyers will need to pay increased focus to their policy wordings.

“It is no exaggeration to say that on a few words hangs the balance of people’s personal assets and buyers of D&O insurance need to be absolutely fastidious when checking the terms and conditions of their insurance policy. Senior executives need to also ensure that they are personally satisfied that their company’s D&O cover is appropriate for them and that they will be allowed access to their policy even after they have left their company.”

In the event of extradition, a D&O policy should cover, subject to the terms and conditions of the policy:

• The payment of all reasonable defence costs related to opposing the extradition proceedings
• Once extradited, legal representation in the bail process
• All reasonable defence costs in a foreign court until a final court adjudication finds them guilty, subject to policy limits

Good D&O policies should always include:

• Severability language in the application i.e. insuring that misrepresentations or omissions by one insured does not void the policy for the innocent directors and officers
• Reasonable costs, fees and expenses should be paid (subject to policy limits) until final adjudication of the claim

Adam Codrington is available for interview to further discuss the implications for D&O insurance following the extradition judgment. Please contact Sebastian St. John-Clarke from the Aon media relations team.

Notes to editor:

About Aon

Aon Corporation is a leading provider of risk management services, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, human capital and management consulting, and specialty insurance underwriting. There are 46,000 employees working in Aon's 500 offices in more than 120 countries. Backed by broad resources, industry knowledge and technical expertise, Aon professionals help a wide range of clients develop effective risk management and workforce productivity solutions.

This press release contains certain statements related to future results, or states our intentions, beliefs and expectations or predictions for the future which are forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from either historical or anticipated results depending on a variety of factors. Potential factors that could impact results include: general economic conditions in different countries in which we do business around the world, changes in global equity and fixed income markets that could affect the return on invested assets, fluctuations in exchange and interest rates that could influence revenue and expense, rating agency actions that could affect our ability to borrow funds, funding of our various pension plans, changes in the competitive environment, our ability to implement restructuring initiatives and other initiatives intended to yield cost savings, our ability to execute the stock repurchase program, changes in commercial property and casualty markets and commercial premium rates that could impact revenues, changes in revenues and earnings due to the elimination of contingent commissions, other uncertainties surrounding a new compensation model, the impact of investigations brought by state attorneys general, state insurance regulators, federal prosecutors, and federal regulators, the impact of class actions and individual lawsuits including client class actions, securities class actions, derivative actions, and ERISA class actions, the cost of resolution of other contingent liabilities and loss contingencies, and the difference in ultimate paid claims in our underwriting companies from actuarial estimates. Further information concerning the Company and its business, including factors that potentially could materially affect the Company’s financial results, is contained in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.