ASX Announcement

In December 2000, the Commonwealth Bank appointed Credit Suisse First Boston to assist in evaluating the robustness of approaches received from parties who had expressed interest in the Bank's Asian life insurance portfolio. This was undertaken in the context of determining the long term strategy in respect of these businesses.

In the course of this evaluation, a number of parties expressed significant interest in, or made indicative offers for, these assets.

However, the proposals received fell short of the Bank's assessment of the value of the businesses to shareholders and were not sufficiently compelling when compared to developing the businesses within the Group. This was confirmed by advice from Credit Suisse First Boston.

As a consequence, the Bank has decided that the portfolio is not for sale.

The Bank will continue its support for, and development of, the businesses to further enhance longer term shareholder value.