Bermuda-based Everest Re Group, Ltd. announced yesterday that its chief executive officer and chief financial officer will comply with a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) order requiring the executives of America's 945 largest corporations to vouch for their companies' accounts, even though they were not asked to.

The company said Joseph V. Taranto, its CEO, and Stephen L. Limauro, its CFO, will voluntarily certify the company's 2001 annual report on Form 10-K by August 14.

They will also certify subsequent financial reports and filings.

As a non-US company, Everest Re Group was not one of the companies which received letters from the SEC at the end of June ordering CEOs and CFOs to stand by their accounts, even though Everest Re and many other Bermuda-registered companies fall under the SEC's jurisdiction because their shares are traded on US exchanges and they file reports with the regulator.

The commission wants senior executives to be ultimately liable for the accuracy of their companies' reporting, and the SEC's chairman, Harvey Pitt, threatened them with jail time if their accounts turned out to be fraudulent.

Everest Re Group, Ltd. is a holding company that operates through reinsurance and insurance companies in Bermuda and the United States.