Release of Provisions

St. James's Place Capital PLC
19 January 2006


                                                                 19 January 2006

                             Release of Provisions


St. James's Place Capital plc ('SJPC'), the wealth management group, today
announces its intention to release certain accounting provisions.

Enquiries:

Andrew Croft, Group Finance Director Tel: [phone]

Nitya Bolam, Brunswick               Tel: [phone]


St. James's Place Capital plc ('SJPC') announces its intention to release
certain accounting provisions in the full year profit for the year ended
31 December 2005 as detailed below:

(i) VAT provision

A provision of £4.0 million is being held against the potential impact of a
decision in the European Court of Justice relating to the VAT exemption for
insurance related services.

The adoption of legislative changes to implement the Court's decision has
recently been postponed on the advice of the European Commission pending an EU
review of VAT in the wider financial services sector.

In accordance with accounting practice the provision is no longer appropriate
and will therefore be released.

(ii) Disposal of Life Assurance Holding Corporation ('LAHC') warranty provision

On 24 August 2004 SJPC disposed of its holding in LAHC. At the time of the
disposal a provision of £16.5 million was established against possible claims
under the transaction warranties and indemnities.

Following a review of the remaining potential liability the Board consider that
the provision should be reduced to £7.0 million. Accordingly £9.5 million of the
provision is no longer required and will be released.

The release of these provisions will positively impact both the International
Financial Reporting and the European Embedded Value profit for the year ended
31 December 2005. These figures are expected to be released on 28 February 2006.



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