11/11/2002
Contact Amber Cousins: 818-871-5319

Diversification Efforts Spur Countrywide Name Change
— Diversified Financial Services Provider to Operate as Countrywide
Financial Corporation

CALABASAS, Calif., Nov. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/-- Reflecting the growth
and development that has transformed Countrywide Credit Industries (NYSE: CCR)
into a provider of diversified financial services, the holding company
officially announced that it has changed its name to Countrywide Financial
Corporation. To commemorate this milestone, the company's two top executives,
Angelo R. Mozilo and Stanford L. Kurland, will ring the opening bell at the
New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday, November 13, when the company's new
ticker symbol, CFC, will be introduced.

"As Countrywide progresses in its diversification efforts and takes its
deserved place among the elite financial services providers, this name change
sends a powerful message of our determination and commitment to future
growth," said Mozilo, chairman, chief executive officer and president of
Countrywide Financial Corporation.

For more than three decades, Countrywide has leveraged its intellectual and
technological capital to achieve its goals. The company is widely known for
its established leadership in mortgage banking. Today, Countrywide Financial
Corporation, through its family of companies, is a diversified financial
services company serving consumers and institutions, with mortgage origination
and servicing at its core. The company's diversification efforts are
reflected in the following six business segments (statistics as of October 31,
2002):

Mortgage Banking:

Countrywide Home Loans currently services 3.8 million loans and its
servicing portfolio exceeds $420 billion. In just 10 months in 2002, the
company has funded a record $184 billion in mortgage loan originations, far
surpassing last year's full year record of $138 billion.

Loan Closing Services:

The LandSafe group of companies, providing credit reports, flood
determinations, appraisals, escrow and title services, currently processes
more than one million transactions a month.

Insurance Services:

The insurance segment has over 4 million policies in force through Balboa
Life & Casualty, Balboa Reinsurance, Countrywide Insurance Services and
DirectNet Insurance Agency.

Capital Markets:

Countrywide Securities Corporation has traded more than $1.6 trillion in
securities this year and ranks among the top 10 companies in all of its
trading categories.

Banking:

Countrywide Bank, a division of Treasury Bank, National Association, was
created in 2001 and today has $5 billion in assets.

Global:

Global Home Loans, a European mortgage processing and servicing venture,
subservices nearly 800,000 loans with total balances exceeding $60 billion.

"Countrywide's diversification efforts play a large role in our remarkable
record for delivering shareholder value," said Kurland, executive managing
director and chief operating officer of Countrywide Financial Corporation.
" The third quarter of 2002 was the sixth consecutive quarter of record
earnings. The company's diversification business model positions Countrywide
for continued growth."

Countrywide's ticker symbol will change on Wednesday, November 13, from CCR
to CFC to reflect the name change.

About Countrywide Financial Corporation

Founded in 1969, Countrywide Financial Corporation (NYSE: CFC), formerly
Countrywide Credit Industries, Inc. (NYSE: CCR), is a member of the S&P 500,
Fortune 500 and Forbes 500. Countrywide, through its subsidiaries, provides
mortgage banking and diversified financial services in domestic and
international markets. Consumer businesses include mortgages, insurance and
other financial products. Business-to-business activities encompass capital
markets, transaction processing and insurance. The company is headquartered
in Calabasas, California and has more than 25,000 employees with over 500
offices nationwide.

Principal subsidiaries include Countrywide Home Loans, Inc, which
originates, purchases, securitizes, sells and services primarily prime-quality
loans; Full Spectrum Lending, Inc., a sub-prime residential lender; LandSafe,
Inc., a provider of loan closing services; Countrywide Insurance Services,
Inc., a national insurance agency offering home-related insurance products;
Balboa Life & Casualty Group, whose companies are national providers of
property, liability and life insurance; Balboa Reinsurance, a captive mortgage
reinsurance company; Countrywide Capital Markets, a mortgage-related
investment banker; and Treasury Bank, National Association, a banking entity
offering customers CDs, money market accounts, and home loan products. In
addition, Countrywide owns 70 percent of Global Home Loans, Ltd. a European
mortgage banking joint venture.

This Press Release may contain forward-looking statements. These
discussions include forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section
21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, regarding management's
beliefs, estimates, projections, and assumptions with respect to future
operations. Actual results and operations for any future period may vary
materially from those projected herein and from past results discussed herein.
Factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from historical
results or those anticipated include, but are not limited to: loss of
investment grade rating; severe real estate recession; significant reduction
in government support of homeownership; loss of access to debt and equity
markets; the level of, and direction of changes in interest rates; competitive
and general economic conditions in each of our business segments; general
economic conditions in the United States and abroad and in the domestic and
international areas in which we do business; the availability of secondary
markets for the Company's mortgage loan products; ineffectiveness of our
hedging activities; the legal, regulatory and legislative environments in the
markets in which the Company operates; performance of the Company's
securities, financial instruments and markets as a whole in response to world
events; loss in the value of unhedged assets; other risks detailed in
documents filed by Countrywide with the Securities and Exchange Commission
from time to time.

Words like "believe", "expect", "should", "may", "could", "anticipated",
" promising" and other expressions that indicate future events and trends
identify forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to
publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements.

For more information about the company, visit Countrywide's Web site at
www.countrywide.com.

/CONTACT: Amber Cousins or Tara Rio, both of Countrywide,
+1-800-796-8448, pressroom@countrywide.com / 06:00 EST