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In addition, IBM and RBC Insurance have also agreed to enter into a long-term agreement for IBM to perform key business processes for RBC Insurance's U.S. operations, including contact center management, policy administration, claims management and payment receipt and reconciliation.

Following the acquisition, it is expected that approximately 700 LIS employees will remain and become part of a new subsidiary of IBM. This new IBM organization will focus on delivering life insurance and annuity processing and administration services and will integrate its deep process expertise with IBM's advanced consulting methodologies and emerging technologies, such as real-time process and data integration, enabling IBM to offer real business optimization value to life insurance clients.

RBC Insurance's U.S. operations will remain based in Greenville, SC, where it has over 200 employees. The company also has a presence in Kansas City, MO, and a field force of approximately 400 full-time agents.

"We continue to view the United States as strategically important to the growth of our insurance business," said Jim Westlake, Group Head Personal and Business Clients Canada and Global Insurance for RBC Financial Group. "The acquisition of Liberty Insurance Services Corporation by IBM allows us to focus on our core insurance businesses by leveraging the experience and technology of a leading third party administrator."

Upon closing, the new IBM subsidiary will handle life and annuity policy processing for more than a dozen life insurance companies worldwide. Services offered by this new IBM organization will include contact center management, policy administration and claims processing. In this field, life insurance companies are seeking the ability to manage their portfolio of life insurance and annuity contracts more dynamically, in order to reduce cost, increase flexibility, improve customer satisfaction, and respond to new market opportunities.

"Life insurance processing and managed operations is expected to represent a $2 billion market globally by 2005, and this acquisition, combined with IBM's business consulting and technology skills, significantly expands our business transformation capabilities for insurance providers worldwide," said Katherine Hegmann, General Manager, IBM Global Business Transformation Outsourcing. "This acquisition adds new skills and processing capabilities, significantly strengthening our policy management, claims administration and payment receipt and reconciliation capabilities. These specialized insurance industry services, together with our existing business transformation capabilities for human resources, customer care, finance and administration and procurement, will help clients in the insurance industry derive new business value from an IBM relationship."

"This deal is consistent with RBC Insurance's objective of providing our customers with value and innovative products. We are pleased to establish this business relationship with IBM," Westlake said. "In today's highly competitive environment and quickly evolving financial services market, we need to concentrate resources and attention on our insurance clients to provide them the strongest value proposition possible. IBM is ideally suited to make the necessary investments that will allow LIS to grow in the future, provide our U.S. insurance businesses and its other customers excellent service and, ultimately, to allow LIS to meet its potential."

About IBM Business Consulting Services

With consultants and professional staff in more than 160 countries globally, IBM Business Consulting Services is the world's largest consulting services organization. IBM Business Consulting Services provides clients with business transformation and industry expertise, and the ability to translate that expertise into integrated, responsive, on demand business solutions and services that deliver bottom-line business value. Over the past several years, IBM Business Consulting Services has developed industry-leading transformation consulting skills and delivery capabilities in key areas, including Human Resources, Financial Management, Customer Relationship Management and Procurement. For more information, visit www.ibm.com.

About RBC Insurance

RBC Insurance provides a wide range of creditor, life, health, travel, home, auto and reinsurance products and services to more than five million clients in Canada, the U.S. and internationally. These products and services are offered through a wide variety of distribution channels, including the telephone, independent brokers, travel agents, a proprietary sales force and the Internet. More information is available at www.rbcinsurance.com. RBC Insurance is the insurance division of Royal Bank of Canada. Royal Bank of Canada (TSX: RY) (NYSE: RY) uses the initials RBC as a prefix for its businesses and operating subsidiaries, which operate under the master brand name of RBC Financial Group. Royal Bank of Canada is Canada's largest bank as measured by market capitalization and assets, and is one of North America's leading diversified financial services companies. It provides personal and commercial banking, wealth management services, insurance, corporate and investment banking, and transaction processing services on a global basis. The company employs 60,000 people who serve more than 12 million personal, business and public sector clients through offices in North America and some 30 countries around the world. For more information, please visit www.rbc.com.

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release includes forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from the results contemplated in these forward-looking statements. Statements regarding the expected date of completion of the transaction are forward-looking statements and subject to the risk that regulatory approvals will not be obtained or that other closing conditions will not be satisfied.

Statements regarding the expected benefits of the transaction are subject to the following risks, among others: that expected benefits will not be achieved; that revenues following the acquisition will be lower than expected; that acquisition transition costs will be greater than expected; the inability to identify, develop and achieve success for new products and services; increased competition; the general economic conditions will be less favorable than expected; and that legislation or regulatory changes adversely affect the insurance business.