PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release - 12/21/2000

AXA Announces OTS Approval

On December 20, 2000, the Office of Thrift Supervision (the "OTS") notified AXA Financial, Inc. (NYSE: AXF) that it had completed its review of the filing made by AXA with the OTS relating to the acquisition of the minority interests of AXA Financial, Inc. by AXA and AXA Merger Corp. through an exchange offer and merger. The OTS further indicated that it does not object to the transactions described in the filing. As previously described, the initial offering period of the exchange offer is expected to expire at 12:00 midnight on December 22, 2000. AXA and AXA Merger Corp. have agreed to provide a subsequent offering period as described in the prospectus related to the exchange offer and merger.

According to the terms of the exchange offer, AXA and AXA Merger Corp. have offered to exchange each share of AXA Financial common stock, validly tendered and not withdrawn, for $35.75 in cash and 0.295 of an AXA ADS

AXA Group is one of the world's largest international insurance and related financial services companies. AXA's operations are diverse geographically, with activities in approximately 60 countries, principally Western Europe, North America and the Asia/Pacific area. In the United States, AXA is represented through its holdings in AXA Financial, Inc. and its subsidiaries: Equitable Life Assurance Society, AXA Advisors, Equitable Distributors, Alliance Capital Management and Sanford C. Bernstein. AXA has approximately $900 billion in assets under management and $53 billion in market capitalization. The AXA American Depositary Shares (ADS) are listed on the NYSE under the ticker symbol AXA, on the Paris Stock Exchange under the same symbol and trades on the SEAQ International in London. For more information, visit www.axa.com.