Willis

New York, December 11, 2009 -Willis Group Holdings Limited (NYSE: WSH), the global insurance broker, said that its shareholders today approved changing the place of incorporation of the parent company of the Willis Group from Bermuda to Ireland at a special meeting here.

With shareholder approval, the proposal to reorganize the company now goes before the Supreme Court of Bermuda for approval. Willis expects to complete the reorganization on or about the end of this year, assuming the transaction is approved by the Supreme Court of Bermuda at a hearing currently scheduled for December 18, 2009, and certain other consents, approvals and waivers are received.

Upon completion of the reorganization, a new Irish public limited company, Willis Group Holdings plc, will replace Willis Group Holdings Limited as the ultimate public holding company of the Willis Group.

Willis also announced that its shareholders approved at the special meeting the creation of distributable reserves of Willis Group Holdings plc, which is expected to be approved by the Irish High Court within three to six weeks after completion of the reorganization.

About Willis

Willis Group Holdings Limited is a leading global insurance broker, developing and delivering professional insurance, reinsurance, risk management, financial and human resource consulting and actuarial services to corporations, public entities and institutions around the world. Willis is one of the largest insurance brokers in Ireland. Willis has more than 400 offices in nearly 120 countries, with a global team of approximately 20,000 Associates (including approximately 300 in Ireland) serving clients in approximately 190 countries. Additional information on Willis may be found at www.willis.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

We have included in this document "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which are intended to be covered by the safe harbors created by those laws. These forward-looking statements include information about possible or assumed future results of our operations. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, that address activities, events or developments that we expect or anticipate may occur in the future, including such things as our proposed reorganization discussed above and the benefits that could be obtained by it, the potential benefits of the Gras Savoye transaction or Hilb, Rogal & Hobbs Company acquisition, our outlook, future capital expenditures, growth in commissions and fees, business strategies, competitive strengths, goals, the benefits of new initiatives, growth of our business and operations, plans and references to future successes are forward-looking statements. Political, economic, climatic, currency, tax, regulatory, competitive, and other factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements. Also, when we use the words such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "plan," "probably" or similar expressions, we are making forward-looking statements.

The foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive and new factors may emerge from time to time that could also affect actual performance and results. For additional factors see the section entitled "Risk Factors" included in Willis' Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008 and Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2009. Copies of these documents are available online at www.sec.gov or on request from the Company as set forth in Part I, Item 1"Business-Available Information" in Willis' Form 10-K.

Although we believe that the assumptions underlying our forward-looking statements are reasonable, any of these assumptions, and therefore also the forward-looking statements based on these assumptions, could themselves prove to be inaccurate. In light of the significant uncertainties inherent in the forward-looking statements included in this document, our inclusion of this information is not a representation or guarantee by us that our objectives and plans will be achieved.