EIB extends the maturities of its benchmarkyield curve by launching a 10 year issue for an amount of EUR 3 bn under itsEARN issuance facility

The EIB (AAA/Aaa) has mandated BNP PARIBAS, Credit Suisse First Boston and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter as joint bookrunners for launch of their new EUR 3 bn EARN benchmark. The new transaction with a maturity of 15 October 2010 has been launched and priced today at 49 bps over the Bund benchmark or 37 bps over OAT. The issue has been supported by a consortium of sixteen co-lead managers, the Primary Dealers as well as JP Morgan, SG Investment Banking and TMI. The issue was announced yesterday morning to enable a twenty-four hour marketing and bookbuilding by the joint leads in the different time zones of the global capital market.

This transaction reaffirms EIB's commitment to offer an extended EARN benchmark yield curve to investors. The EARN issuance facility enables EIB to establish the only non-government yield curve in the Euro-area, with eight liquid benchmarks ranging from 2003 to 2010 with outstanding amounts between Euro 2 bn and Euro 5.9 bn, totalling EUR 28.4 bn. In many maturities these bonds represent the main liquid "AAA"-alternative to government bonds.

Coincident with the launch of the new EARN 15 October 2010, EIB announces that the entire EARN benchmark curve will begin trading on Supranational MTS as managed by MTS Spa. In addition, EIB announces that the EARN 5.250% 15 April 2004 has been admitted for trading on EuroMTS. EIB will endeavour to qualify as many EARNs as possible for trading on EuroMTS, including the new EARN 15 October 2010.

All EARNs trading on Supranational MTS and those EARNs that qualify for EuroMTS will have market-making support from all sixteen of EIB's Primary Dealers, which will contribute to enhance further the liquidity of EIB's benchmarks. Moreover, the liquidity of the curve will also be supported by EIB's intention to reopen frequently existing lines.

The group of Primary Dealers, which has recently been extended by six to reach sixteen members, is as follows: ABN Amro, Banca d'Intermediazione Mobiliare IMI, Banco Santander Central Hispano, Barclays, BNP Paribas, CabotoHolding SIM, CDC Marchés, Credit Suisse First Boston, Deutsche Bank, Dresdner Bank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Nomura and UBS Warburg. This group is further supported by sixteen non-primary dealers.

Smooth extension of the EARN curve through issuance of the new EARN 15 October 2010, complemented by entry of the EARN curve onto the MTS electronic trading platforms will bolster the tradability and liquidity of the EARN curve - the only non-sovereign, non-asset backed benchmark curve in EUR to trade electronically. EIB anticipates that these initiatives will be expanded in the future to initiate the development of a truly pan-European electronic trading network.

EIB Director General of Finance, René Karsenti said: "Today we have been able to send a clear signal that the EIB continues to be a major player in the Euro market. Our EUR 3 billion issue is a landmark transaction that reconfirms our commitment towards the Euro and reinforces the liquidity of our EARN curve. I am very pleased that this also coincides with our entry onto the MTS electronic trading platform, including the EuroMTS platform, as a quasi-government."

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the lending arm of the European Union and was established in 1958 under the Treaty of Rome. Its shareholders are the Member States of the European Union. About ninety percent of the EIB's lending activity takes place in the European Union. In 1999, it lent EUR 32 billion for capital investment and borrowed EUR 28 billion on capital markets.