(Princeton, NJ, August 7, 2000)  For more than 100 years, New Jersey consumers have watched across the Hudson River as savings banks in New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut offered savings bank life insurance products to their depositors.

Some New Jersey residents could get in on the action if they worked in New York.   But New Jersey savings banks did not have the power to offer savings bank life insurance, which was a grandfathered power in those other states.

This changed with enactment by Congress in 1999 of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, (Pub. L. No. 106-102), which allowed savings banks and other banks and thrifts, including those in New Jersey and all other states, to offer savings bank life insurance products.

A strong presence in New England, Savings Bank Life Insurance of Massachusetts, the leading carrier of these products, has been admitted by the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance to offer savings bank life insurance in New Jersey. Admission was approved today, August 7, 2000 with assistance from Reed Smith Shaw & McClay LLP.

In the coming months, New Jersey bank and thrift depositors should have access to the same insurance products which their neighbors in New York and New England have had access to for a century.

According to SBLI President Robert Sheridan, savings bank life insurance is "rock solid" but is typically less expensive than other life insurance products offered by other insurance companies because of increased efficiencies in distributing products through banks and thrifts.

Mr. Sheridan said, "We've provided consumers with life insurance for more than 90 years. We're committed to providing value, quality, and stability you can count on. Admission into New Jersey is an exciting opportunity for SBLI.

Finally, New Jersey consumers will have access to products which have been available elsewhere for many years. Counsel to Reed Smith, partner, Goeffrey Connor, said, "With SBLI's entry into New Jersey, consumers have another excellent option for insurance. When you buy life insurance, it's important to be sure you're buying from a company with the financial stability and longevity to be able to honor its commitments to you -- a company like SBLI."

Founded in 1907 by then prominent Boston attorney Louis Brandeis, SBLI has more than $26 billion of life insurance in force. Mr. Brandeis, then a prominent Boston attorney, recognized a need for low cost life insurance. His idea was to have savings banks in Massachusetts offer life insurance, and SBLI was established to accomplish this objective. 

According to Mr. Sheridan, "Today, we still sell life insurance through many banks. However, we have also been selling our products directly to the consumer for more than 10 years now, The company remains committed to providing safe, low cost life insurance for consumers in Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and in Connecticut."  Said Samuel Damiano, President of the New Jersey League Community & Savings Bankers, "We are delighted that our members will now be able to offer SBLI of Massachusetts' products. New Jersey consumers will no longer have to cross a river to get the insurance they want. We see this as a win-win for consumers."

SBLI of Massachusetts has consistently high ratings from the nation's leading rating services, which measure financial strength, claims paying ability, issuer credit ratings, and ability to meet obligations to its policyholders.  According to A.M. Best Company, the company has an A+ Superior rating.   Standard & Poor's rates the company as "Very Strong."