JPMorgan Chase to Sell Insurance Underwriting Business to Protective Life

The sale is subject to normal regulatory approvals and is expectedto close in the third quarter of 2006. JPMorgan Chase anticipates thetransaction will have no material impact on earnings.

"With the merger of Chase and Bank One, we reviewed all ourbusinesses and concluded that insurance underwriting does not have thesame scale as our core banking businesses," said Charles W. Scharf,CEO of Chase's Retail Financial Services, which includes ChaseInsurance. "We will continue to meet our customers' insurance andannuity needs without underwriting the products."

The sale includes both the heritage Chase insurance business andthe life business that Bank One bought from Zurich Insurance in 2003.In 2005, Chase Insurance posted operating earnings of $79 million onrevenue of $644 million. Chase will retain its debt-protectionbusiness and continue to distribute life and annuity products throughits branch network.

About Chase

Chase, the U.S. consumer and commercial banking brand of JPMorganChase & Co., has issued approximately 110 million credit cards andserves consumers and small businesses through more than 2,600branches, 7,300 ATMs and 280 mortgage offices as well as throughrelationships with over 15,000 auto dealerships, 2,500 schools anduniversities and 2,100 insurance agencies. The firm is a leader ininvestment banking, financial services for consumers and businesses,financial transaction processing, asset and wealth management, andprivate equity. A component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average,JPMorgan Chase & Co. has its corporate headquarters in New York andits U.S. consumer and commercial banking headquarters in Chicago.Under the JPMorgan, Chase and Bank One brands, the firm servesmillions of consumers in the United States and many of the world'smost prominent corporate, institutional and government clients.Information about the firm is available at www.jpmorganchase.com.