Sony Bank Revises Sales Commission Structure for Investment Trusts and Introduces Sales Commission Reduction Program for Funded Plans

July 23, 2008

Sony Bank Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony Financial Holdings, today announced the revision of its sales commission structure for investment trusts starting August 4, 2008. In addition, Sony Bank will introduce a sales commission reduction program for funded plans.

After reviewing its sales commission structure for investment trusts, Sony Bank has revised its fees based on fund category and updated its investment policy. Sony Bank will also change the commission structure to benefit customers in a range between 0.525% and 1.05% (including consumption taxes) depending on the transaction amount.

In this program, Sony Bank will provide cash back equivalent to 20% of relevant sales commissions (including consumption taxes) for customers who continuously purchase the same fund each month using funded plans during each three-month decision periods—January through March, April through June, July through September, and October through December.

In addition, on August 4, 2008, Sony Bank will add two funds to its investment trust lineup: BlackRock Natural Resources Equity Fund (Asset Management Company: BlackRock Japan Co., Ltd.) and Schroder BRICs Currency Fund (Asset Management Company: Schroder Investment Management (Japan) Ltd.). These two additions will raise the number of investment trusts Sony Bank sells to 64 funds operated by 26 companies.

Going forward, Sony Bank will continue providing attractive sales commission levels and an attractive lineup of investment trusts in response to customers' diverse needs for asset management.

Note: This is an English-language summary of a Japanese announcement made by Sony Bank on July 23, 2008. The summary was prepared by Sony Financial Holdings Inc. solely for the convenience of non-Japanese readers.