The following table shows the types of Debt certificates issued by Fortis and the amounts outstanding as at 31 December.

The average balance of Debt certificates amounted to EUR 103,979 million in 2007 (2006: EUR 82,730 million; 2005: EUR 72,924 million). The average yield was 5.0% in 2007 (2006: 4.0%; 2005: 3.4%).

Fortis has pledged certain assets (i.e. mainly investments and trading assets) for EUR 4,885 million (2006: EUR 4,131 million) against Debt certificates outstandings.

Fortis has designated selected Debt certificates with embedded derivatives and corresponding investments as Held at fair value through profit or loss, reducing a potential accounting mismatch. The Debt certificates issued combined with the embedded derivatives, are designated as Held at fair value through profit or loss, thus avoiding the separation of the embedded derivative from the host contract. The nominal value of Debt securities held at fair value through profit or loss was EUR 15,610 million as at 31 December 2007 (2006: EUR 9,147 million; 2005: EUR 5,381 million).

Included in the line Other is the mandatory exchangeable bond of nominal USD 774 million issued in January 2005 on the remaining shares of Assurant, Inc. owned by Fortis. The embedded derivative included in the instrument has been separated and is measured at fair value through profit or loss in the trading portfolio.

In order to mitigate the foreign currency risk related to the interest payment on the bond, Fortis has a designated cash-flow hedge in place by using a USD-bank account as hedging instrument.

The foreign currency revaluation of the hedging instrument is accounted for in Shareholders' equity. Any hedge ineffectiveness is immediately recognised in the income statement.

At 31 December 2007, the bond was valued at EUR 527 million (2006: EUR 614 million) and the embedded derivative was valued at EUR 331 million (2006: EUR 205 million) and reported under Liabilities held for trading. Value changes in the derivative are offset by the changes in value of the shares of Assurant, Inc. reported in Investments held at fair value through profit or loss.

The contractual maturity of the balance outstanding as at 31 December of Debt certificates valued at amortised cost, is shown below.