Press Release

Wednesday, December 8, 2004

OPIC Finalizes Innovative HIV+ Mortgage Project With Support of JPMorgan

Project stands to help 350,000 South Africans

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Dr. Peter Watson, president and CEO of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), announced today that OPIC had closed a groundbreaking project that is expected to provide funding for treatment of HIV-positive homeowners in South Africa over ten years, enabling them to keep their homes by guaranteeing banks against the risk of defaulted mortgage payments. The project stands to help at least 350,000 South Africans obtain new mortgages and keep their homes.

OPIC provided a $250 million loan to Housing for HIV Inc., a newly-formed nonprofit organization set up as a joint venture between New York based Shared Interest, Inc. and South African-based Home Loan Guaranty Company (HLGC). Housing for HIV Inc. raised an additional $50 million from junior investors to form a $300 million pool of funds.

JPMorgan assisted OPIC and HLGC with structuring the transaction and with sourcing and placing the senior and junior investments. Net proceeds from the investment pool will be used to purchase medication for HIV-positive homeowners in South Africa who hold mortgages from banks that are guaranteed by HLGC. Treatment and education for affected homeowners will be provided through additional agreements with South African clinics.

Under the project, provision of mortgages will not be limited to HIV-positive persons. Should a homeowner miss a mortgage payment and be found to be HIV-positive, the treatment program will be initiated for the affected individual and monitored closely by participating clinics.

The project, which OPIC first announced in February 2003, addresses several objectives of the Bush Administration’s $15 billion Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which aims to prevent seven million new AIDS infections, treat at least two million people with life-extending drugs, and provide humane care for millions of people suffering from AIDS.

Dr. Watson said “finalization of this innovative project on the heels of World AIDS Day represents a milestone in overcoming the financial stigma attached to HIV/AIDS.

“By providing HIV treatment and a guaranty to keep homes in homeowners’ hands, this innovative project both respects the dignity of HIV positive homeowners and values them as productive members of society, ” Dr. Watson said. “This project is a tribute to the combined determination of JP Morgan, Shared Interest and South Africa’s HLGC to capture financially that ongoing productivity, which in turn will give new hope to persons living with HIV/AIDS.”

JPMorgan Chase & Co. is a leading global financial services firm with assets of $1.1 trillion and operations in more than 50 countries. The firm is a leader in investment banking, financial services for consumers and businesses, financial transaction processing, asset and wealth management, and private equity. A component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, JPMorgan Chase has its corporate headquarters in New York and its U.S. retail financial services and commercial banking headquarters in Chicago. Under the JPMorgan, Chase and Bank One brands, the firm serves millions of consumers in the United States and many of the world's most prominent corporate, institutional and government clients. Information about JPMorgan Chase is available on the Internet at www.jpmorganchase.com.

Shared Interest, Inc., a New York-based nonprofit organization, operates as a social investment fund designed to enhance low-income South Africans’ access to credit previously denied them because of race, gender, or income. Through its South African partner organization, Shared Interest guarantees South African bank loans to community development financial institutions engaged in the country’s reconstruction process.

The Home Loan Guarantee Company (HLGC) is a South African nonprofit organization that facilitates access to housing finance for lower- income groups. HLGC provides indemnities to housing lenders where risk is not ordinarily covered in the commercial market, usually because there is insufficient data to empirically or actuarially determine the parameters of the risk.