AXA Group's new annual report

AXA's annual general shareholders' meeting took place on May 4, 2006. At this meeting, and for the first time this year, individual shareholders were given a copy of the 2005 annual report, made up of two documents and offered in just one pack: the activity and sustainable development report and the reference document (previously called the annual report).

A project was carried out to redesign the report in 2005 in terms of both its content and its format. This new design project aimed primarily to offer shareholders one dedicated product to ensure greater legibility.

Up until now, at each general meeting, individual shareholders were provided with two separate documents: the activity and sustainable development report and the annual report.

This last report contains all the information required by the French securities regulator (Autorité des Marchés Financiers, AMF), including the AXA Group's financial statements. These documents will now be offered in just one pack at general meetings.

Three key factors are behind this change:

• The Group's commitment to offering its various shareholders one dedicated homogenous report;
• Within the European framework, the regulation published in July 2005 (interpretation of the Transparency Directive) officially defined the minimum financial content to be contained in reference documents for European issuers. AXA reviewed the content of the reference document in light of this new regulation;
• The financial culture of individual and institutional shareholders has changed. With a view to ensuring transparency, it is important for them to have access to all the information concerning the Group, whether it is financial, strategic or even relating to the sustainable development policy.

While the activity and sustainable development report's actual structure has not changed, that of the reference document has been modified with a view to improving the document's legibility. In addition, the financial statements section is now significantly longer - around 165 pages compared with 84 pages in 2004 - with the inclusion of the Group's accounts under IFRS reflecting the greater regulatory requirements applicable in terms of information to be published within this new environment.