NEW YORK, N.Y., June 19, 2006 – New York Life Insurance Company announced today that Michael M. Oleske has been elected senior vice president of the company. Mr. Oleske is the company’s tax counsel and head of the Tax Department, and reports to Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Michael Sproule. In addition, Michael J. Oliviero has been elected first vice president of the Tax Department, reporting to Mr. Oleske.

Mr. Oleske is now responsible for overseeing the team of legal counsel who deals with tax issues, including the preparation of all federal, state and local tax returns, and for providing guidance to senior management and business units on the effects of new and proposed tax laws and regulations and in the development of tax-effective products. Mr. Oleske joined New York Life in 1986 as an assistant tax counsel in the Tax Department. He was promoted to associate tax counsel in 1988 and promoted to vice president in 1994, becoming first vice president in 2003.

Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Oleske worked as an attorney for Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, was an associate with Geller & Simon, P.C., and served as an attorney for the Institute for Business Planning. Mr. Oleske is a member of the tax sections of the American Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association, and the Association of Life Insurance Counsel. He is also a member of the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI) Company Tax Committee. Mr. Oleske graduated from Fordham University with a B.A. in Math and English, and earned a J.D. from St. John’s University School of Law. Mr. Oleske also holds an L.L.M. in Taxation from New York University Law School, Graduate Division. He resides in Manhasset, N.Y., with his wife, Mary, and their three children.

Mr. Oliviero is now responsible for overseeing the accounting section of the tax department, including federal, state and local tax compliance of the Tax Department. This area is charged with filing all corporate federal income tax returns. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Oliviero was a revenue agent for the Internal Revenue Service of the U.S. government where he performed tax audits. At New York Life, he was promoted to corporate vice president of tax accounting in 1990, then vice president in 2000.

Mr. Oliviero is a Member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He earned his B.A. degree from Queens College, and his M.B.A. from Hofstra University. A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., he resides in Garden City, N.Y., with his wife, Diana, and their two children.

New York Life Insurance Company, a Fortune 100 company founded in 1845, is the largest mutual life insurance company in the United States and one of the largest life insurers in the world. Headquartered in New York City, New York Life's family of companies offers life insurance, annuities and long-term care insurance. New York Life Investment Management LLC provides institutional asset management, retirement planning and trust services. Other New York Life affiliates provide an array of securities products and services, as well as institutional and retail mutual funds.