Exhibit 31.2




I, Stanley B. Tulin,  Vice Chairman of the Board and Chief Financial  Officer of
The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States, certify that:


1)      I have reviewed  this  quarterly  report on Form 10-Q of The  Equitable
        Life Assurance Society of the United States (the "Registrant");

2)      Based on my knowledge, this quarterly report does not contain any
        untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact
        necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances
        under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to
        the period covered by this quarterly report;

3)      Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
        information included in this quarterly report, fairly present in all
        material respects the financial condition, results of operations and
        cash flows of the Registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in
        this quarterly report;

4)      The Registrant's other certifying officer and I are responsible for
        establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as
        defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the
        Registrant and we have:

        a) Designed such disclosure  controls and procedures, or caused such
           disclosure controls and  procedures to be designed  under our
           supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the
           Registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known
           to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period
           in which this quarterly report is being prepared;

        b) Evaluated the effectiveness of the Registrant's disclosure controls
           and procedures and presented in this quarterly report our conclusions
           about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures as
           of the end of the period covered by this quarterly report based on
           such evaluation; and

        c) Disclosed in this quarterly  report any change in the  Registrant's
           internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the
           Registrant's most recent fiscal quarter (the Registrant's  fourth
           fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially
           affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the
           Registrant's internal control over financial reporting; and

5)      The Registrant's other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based
        on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial
        reporting, to the Registrant's auditors and the audit committee of
        Registrant's board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent
        function):

        a) All  significant  deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design
           or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are
           reasonably likely to adversely affect the Registrant's ability to
           record, process, summarize and report financial information; and

        b) Any  fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or
           other employees who have a significant role in the Registrant's
           internal control over financial reporting.



Date:  August 13, 2003



                                     /s/ Stanley B. Tulin
                                     --------------------
                                     Stanley B. Tulin
                                     Vice Chairman of the Board and
                                     Chief Financial Officer