5. CREDIT FACILITIES

The Company has three credit facilities for a total commitment of up to $1,300,000 thousand, providing for the issuance of letters of credit and/or unsecured revolving credit lines. The following table presents the costs incurred in connection with the three credit facilities for the periods indicated:


	Years Ended December 31,
(Dollars in thousands)	2011		2010		2009
Credit facility fees incurred	$	2,211	$	2,034	$	1,892

The terms and outstanding amounts for each facility are discussed below:

Group Credit Facility

Effective July 27, 2007, Group, Bermuda Re and Everest International entered into a five year, $850,000 thousand senior credit facility with a syndicate of lenders referred to as the "Group Credit Facility". Wells Fargo Corporation ("Wells Fargo Bank") is the administrative agent for the Group Credit Facility, which consists of two tranches. Tranche one provides up to $350,000 thousand of unsecured revolving credit for liquidity and general corporate purposes, and for the issuance of unsecured standby letters of credit. The interest on the revolving loans shall, at the Company's option, be either (1) the Base Rate (as defined below) or (2) an adjusted London Interbank Offered Rate ("LIBOR") plus a margin. The Base Rate is the higher of (a) the prime commercial lending rate established by Wells Fargo Bank or (b) the Federal Funds Rate plus 0.5% per annum. The amount of margin and the fees payable for the Group Credit Facility depends on Group's senior unsecured debt rating. Tranche two exclusively provides up to $500,000 thousand for the issuance of standby letters of credit on a collateralized basis.

The Group Credit Facility requires Group to maintain a debt to capital ratio of not greater than 0.35 to 1 and to maintain a minimum net worth. Minimum net worth is an amount equal to the sum of $3,575,381 thousand plus 25% of consolidated net income for each of Group's fiscal quarters, for which statements are available ending on or after January 1, 2007 and for which consolidated net income is positive, plus 25% of any increase in consolidated net worth during such period attributable to the issuance of ordinary and preferred shares, which at December 31, 2011, was $4,292,517 thousand. As of December 31, 2011, the Company was in compliance with all Group Credit Facility covenants.

The following table summarizes the outstanding letters of credit and/or borrowings for the periods indicated:


(Dollars in thousands)		At December 31, 2011					At December 31, 2010
Bank		Commitment		In Use		Date of Expiry	Commitment		In Use		Date of Expiry
Wells Fargo Bank Group Credit Facility	Tranche One	$	350,000	$	-		$	350,000	$	-
	Tranche Two		500,000		446,327	12/31/2012		500,000		406,427	12/31/2011
					127	9/30/2012				-
Total Wells Fargo Bank Group Credit Facility		$	850,000	$	446,454		$	850,000	$	406,427

Holdings Credit Facility

Effective August 15, 2011, Holdings entered into a new three year, $150,000 thousand unsecured revolving credit facility with a syndicate of lenders, replacing the August 23, 2006 five year senior revolving credit facility. Both the August 15, 2011 and August 23, 2006 revolving credit agreements, which have similar terms, are referred to as the "Holdings Credit Facility". Citibank N.A. is the administrative agent for the Holdings Credit Facility. The Holdings Credit Facility may be used for liquidity and general corporate purposes. The Holdings Credit Facility provides for the borrowing of up to $150,000 thousand with interest at a rate selected by Holdings equal to either, (1) the Base Rate (as defined below) or (2) a periodic fixed rate equal to the Eurodollar Rate plus an applicable margin. The Base Rate means a fluctuating interest rate per annum in effect from time to time to be equal to the higher of (a) the rate of interest publicly announced by Citibank as its base rate, (b) 0.5% per annum above the Federal Funds Rate or (c) 1% above the one month LIBOR, in each case plus the applicable margin. The amount of margin and the fees payable for the Holdings Credit Facility depends upon Holdings' senior unsecured debt rating.

The Holdings Credit Facility requires Holdings to maintain a debt to capital ratio of not greater than 0.35 to 1 and Everest Re to maintain its statutory surplus at $1,875,000 thousand plus 25% of future aggregate net income and 25% of future aggregate capital contributions after December 31, 2010, which at December 31, 2011, was $1,898,936 thousand. As of December 31, 2011, Holdings was in compliance with all Holdings Credit Facility covenants.

The following table summarizes outstanding letters of credit and/or borrowings for the periods indicated:


(Dollars in thousands)	At December 31, 2011						At December 31, 2010
Bank	Commitment		In Use		Date of Loan	Maturity/Expiry Date	Commitment		In Use		Date of Loan	Maturity/Expiry Date
Citibank Holdings Credit Facility	$	150,000	$	-			$	150,000	$	50,000	12/16/2010	1/18/2011
Total revolving credit borrowings				-						50,000
Total letters of credit				5,020		12/31/2012				9,527		12/31/2011

Total Citibank Holdings Credit Facility	$	150,000	$	5,020			$	150,000	$	59,527

Bermuda Re Letter of Credit Facility

Bermuda Re has a $300,000 thousand letter of credit issuance facility with Citibank N.A. referred to as the "Bermuda Re Letter of Credit Facility", which commitment is reconfirmed annually. The Bermuda Re Letter of Credit Facility provides for the issuance of up to $300,000 thousand of secured letters of credit to collateralize reinsurance obligations as a non-admitted reinsurer. The interest on drawn letters of credit shall be (A) 0.20% per annum of the principal amount of issued standard letters of credit (expiry of 15 months or less) and (B) 0.25% per annum of the principal amount of issued extended tenor letters of credit (expiry maximum of up to 60 months). The commitment fee on undrawn credit shall be 0.10% per annum.

The following table summarizes the outstanding letters of credit for the periods indicated:


(Dollars in thousands)	At December 31, 2011					At December 31, 2010
Bank	Commitment		In Use		Date of Expiry	Commitment		In Use		Date of Expiry
Citibank Bilateral Letter of Credit Agreement	$	300,000	$	3,352	11/24/2012	$	300,000	$	2,291	11/24/2011
				80,770	12/31/2012				79,681	12/31/2011
				85	7/15/2013				36,462	1/31/2011
				889	2/15/2014				340	6/15/2011
				4,773	12/31/2014				25,581	6/30/2014
				25,510	6/30/2015				11,580	9/30/2014
				8,642	9/30/2015				72,398	12/31/2014
				10,088	11/22/2015				-
				60,752	12/31/2015				-
Total Citibank Bilateral Agreement	$	300,000	$	194,861		$	300,000	$	228,333