Hansapank                     NEWS RELEASE                      08/18/2003



CHANGE IN HANSA CAPITAL'S LEGAL STRUCTURE



According to the agreement signed between AB bankas Hansabankas and AS

Hansa Capital the ownership title of Hansa Capital’s Lithuanian

subsidiary UAB Hanza Lizingas was transferred to Hansabankas. The

price of the transaction is based on the net asset value of Hanza

Lizingas as of August 1, 2003.



The Group decided to change Hansa Capital’s legal structure because

under the current banking regulatory restrictions it started to hamper

the funding and thus the development of leasing and factoring

operations in the Baltics.



The respective change in Latvia where Hansa Capital’s Latvian

subsidiary, SIA Hanza Lizings, was sold to Hansabanka, was made at the

end of 2001.





Mart Tõevere

Head of investor relations

+372 6131 569