HAMILTON, Bermuda (BUSINESS WIRE) - ESG Re Limited (ESREF) announced this week that the company has retained Sharyn A. Ashman, CPA, as an independent consultant to review the company's internal financial controls. The review was initiated after the company restated results, as previously announced on August 22, 2002. "With the increased focus on disclosure practices, we are acting proactively to revisit and, when necessary, improve our internal processes," stated Joe Quinn, ESG Senior Financial Officer. "Ms Ashman will bring us a wealth of experience and we welcome her perspective as we continue to upgrade our systems and processes."

Sharyn Ashman is a certified public accountant with extensive experience in corporate financial reporting and analysis, including accounting expertise related to insurance companies. She has previously worked with public companies, including ESG, to develop internal systems and procedures for, among other things, US GAAP financial reporting and preparation of SEC filings.

Last month, the company disclosed that errors related to ESG's internal consolidation system led to misstatements that required a $4.0 million adjustment in the Company's foreign currency translation account. The translations are effected in order to allow the Company to report its results in US dollars.

The adjustment was the product of various errors related to the Company's internal consolidation system, including, for example, a system design problem that generated foreign currency translation of amounts that should not have been translated and the incorrect inputting of foreign exchange rates.

The net effect of these errors was a $4.0 million misstatement in the foreign currency translation account. Given the difficulty and expense that would be required to recalculate and substantiate translation amounts dating back to prior periods, the Company made the judgment to make the adjustment in the fourth quarter of 2001 - the most recent period affected by errors related to the consolidation system. The restatement did not affect shareholder's equity or net asset value of the company. ESG has upgraded its internal consolidation system in order to prevent a repetition of the events leading to the adjustment and restatement.

The company is confident that the current balance in the foreign currency translation account is stated accurately and that its current consolidation system is functioning properly.