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Spanish Savings Bank Caixa Catalunya Selects SAP and Accenture to Help Meet Basel II Requirements


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Contract Is First by Spanish Bank to Implement Standard Software Technology to Comply with Revised Capital Standards

BARCELONA, Spain - September 26, 2005 - SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) and Accenture (NYSE: ACN) today announced an agreement with Caixa Catalunya to implement the SAP® Basel II application from the SAP for Banking industry solution to help the bank to comply with the Basel II Capital Accord, which sets new standards in risk management and capital adequacy for most of the world’s larger banks.

Caixa Catalunya, Spain’s third-largest savings bank, is the first Spanish bank to implement a standard software solution that will help the bank to comply with the new regulatory framework. The bank said it chose SAP’s Basel II software and Accenture implementation services, following a competitive vendor review, as the most effective solution for savings in time and resources as well as for helping to meet current and future regulatory requirements, both nationally and globally.

The Basel II Capital Accord revises and expands current capital and risk-management standards for banks operating internationally. Global rules issued in 2004 increase banks’ focus on risk management in both credit and operational areas, more closely aligning regulatory and economic capital to better reflect market risks. As part of implementing these standards over the next few years, banks must utilize and disclose to the market broader and more detailed information about risk management.

“We believe that the tandem of SAP and Accenture is the best choice to guarantee the success of the regulatory and economic capital management project,” said Xavier Boldu, Infrastructures and Organization Area Manager, Caixa Catalunya.

The SAP Basel II application, part of SAP’s analytical banking solution set for banks, supports regulatory compliance by providing integrated information support for all finance and risk-related business processes. The application supports the need for banks to meet Basel II requirements for credit-risk calculations of risk-weighted assets. The application’s flexible structure and open reporting functions help banks improve internal risk management, including risk-adjusted pricing and addresses future credit risk reporting requirements.

Through their alliance for the financial services industry, Accenture and SAP offer solutions for banks and insurers worldwide. Together, the companies have implemented Basel II capabilities at banks around the world, including Absa (South Africa), Bank of Ireland (Ireland), BPU Banca (Italy), FinanzIT and HSH Nordbank (Germany) and Nordea (Norway).

“Most banks do not have a complete global picture of their market, credit and operational risks, yet government pressure for Basel II compliance continues to grow,” said Thomas Balgheim, senior vice president, Financial Services, SAP AG. “As part of SAP’s core banking solution, the Basel II offering helps banks prepare their Basel risk model by providing an integrated application architecture view into business processes, enabling a strategic platform for ongoing compliance.”

“Caixa Catalunya is an example of the enhanced benefit that the alliance between Accenture and SAP brings to a client—a standard software solution that meets a timely, critical and complex business need combined with implementation by a team with deep industry experience and solution knowledge,” said Juan Barcena, Accenture managing partner, Financial Services, Spain.

Caixa Catalunya and Accenture have worked together closely since 1992. They created Informació i Tecnología de Catalunya (ITC), which provides IT services to the bank, in 1998. This joint relationship has helped the bank improve its efficiency ratio, which measures operating expenses against revenues, by more than 180 basic points in the past four years. The bank’s recent agreement with SAP and Accenture was closed in Q2 2005.

About Caixa Catalunya
Caixa Catalunta is a savings bank with more than 1,000 branches in Spain and 2,424 million euros in consolidated own funds in 2004. The net income in 2004 was 248 million euros and its efficiency coefficient increased by 3.5 points to 55.2%. The total Group-managed funds increased to 30,323 million euros. Caixa Catalunya invested 43.4 million euros in community projects in 2004. These community projects include third age aid, development aid and microcredits, environmental conservation and cultural promotion, etc. All these activities are managed through the four Foundations owned by Caixa Catalunya.

Accenture and SAP Alliance in Financial Services
In September 2003, SAP and Accenture entered into an alliance for the Financial Services industry, offering banks and insurance providers a more effective and low risk way to transform and grow their business, through a dedicated joint development team and sales channel, integrated solutions and services, innovative delivery, and highly efficient implementation. With a 30-year history and experience delivering innovative business solutions for more than 1000 leading financial services institutions, Accenture and SAP work together to help insurers and banks achieve the vision of an open standards-based architecture.

About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. Committed to delivering innovation, Accenture collaborates with its clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. With deep industry and business process expertise, broad global resources and a proven track record, Accenture can mobilize the right people, skills and technologies to help clients improve their performance. With more than 110,000 people in 48 countries, the company generated net revenues of US$13.67 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2004. Its home page is www.accenture.com

About SAP for Banking
SAP for Banking provides an integrated solution set to manage every aspect of the front- and back-office banking environment—from core banking processes, high-volume transaction banking processes and customer relationship management to financial accounting, cost controlling and profitability and risk analysis. With more than 550 customers in 60 countries worldwide, SAP for Banking helps financial institutions expertly manage transactions and relationships, quickly exploit market opportunities and easily tailor new products to the specific needs of individual customers. (Additional information at www.sap.com/banking/)

About SAP
SAP is the world’s leading provider of business software solutions*. Today, more than 28,200 customers in over 120 countries run more than 96,400 installations of SAP® software—from distinct solutions addressing the needs of small and midsize enterprises to suite solutions for global organizations. Powered by the SAP NetWeaver® platform to drive innovation and enable business change, mySAP™ Business Suite solutions are helping enterprises around the world improve customer relationships, enhance partner collaboration and create efficiencies across their supply chains and business operations. SAP industry solutions support the unique business processes of more than 25 industry segments, including high tech, retail, public sector and financial services. With subsidiaries in more than 50 countries, the company is listed on several exchanges, including the Frankfurt stock exchange and NYSE under the symbol “SAP.” (Additional information at http://www.sap.com)

(*) SAP defines business software solutions as comprising enterprise resource planning and related software solutions such as supply chain management, customer relationship management, product life-cycle management and supplier relationship management.

Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “project,” “predict,” “should” and “will” and similar expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. SAP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations The factors that could affect SAP’s future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including SAP’s most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.

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