April 2005/1

The Irish insurance regulators have spoken for the first time on the probes facing the US insurance industry as the spotlight turns to Dublin – the scene of many of the finite reinsurance contracts now engulfed in controversy.

Standard & Poor’s has lowered American International Group’s prized credit, debt and financial strength ratings following revelations of the insurance giant’s involvement in “inappropriate financial transactions”.

Days before Lloyd’s is due to publish its 2004 Global financial results, ratings agency Moody’s has predicted that Lloyd’s is likely to produce a profit of £1.2bn – the equivalent of 9 percent of capacity – this year.

Eliot Spitzer gave a boost to investment legend Warren Buffett last week by supporting Berkshire Hathaway’s contentions that he did not have an intimate knowledge of the controversial $500mn finite reinsurance deal with AIG.

Broking giant Aon Corporation has appointed ex-McKinsey management consultant Gregory C. Case as the group’s new president and chief executive, replacing the long-serving Patrick Ryan.

Rating agency AM Best affirmed its “A” financial strength rating of Employers Re and GE Reinsurance Corporation following a $350mn injection from GE Capital Services and a commitment to provide further support later this year.

Trading in Omega Underwriting Holdings plc shares will begin on Wednesday (6 April) priced initially at 115p after the Lloyd’s insurer confirmed it was to float on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange in an IPO which values

KPMG is facing a negligence action over its involvement in the collapse of Independent Insurance in 2001, according to reports.

LCL Group – the run-off manager to debt collections specialist – has appointed former Euclidian Underwriting Ltd chief executive Andrew Holland to become chief operating officer.

Bermuda’s Renaissance Re, one of the industry’s most admired reinsurance companies, has admitted its senior management made mistakes in accounting for a finite reinsurance transaction in its delayed Securities & Exchange Commission 10-K filing.

American International Group’s new chief executive Martin Sullivan has written to his shareholders as problems continue to mount for the insurance giant.

The Securities & Exchange Commission subpoenaed American International Group’s auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) last week to examine whether the professional services firm played any role in the allegations of accounting improprieties which have encir