April 2005/3

Case turns on definition of "authorised business trip" clause. The Aon WTC personal accident dispute has been settled in favour of the London Market reinsurers, according to a judgement released this morning.

Swiss start-up reinsurer Glacier Re continued its expansion with the appointment of Oliver Wirtzfeld as senior underwriter and Cinzia Muggiasca Ahr as financial controller as of 1 April 2005.

Swiss Re’s 30 St Mary Axe building has another tenant, as Lloyd’s managing agent Creechurch Underwriting Limited moves in today (18 April).

Bermuda headquartered reinsurer Aspen has signalled its expansion into the aviation market with the appointment of David Whiter as senior underwriter for aviation insurance with its London operation, Aspen Insurance UK Limited.

World’s second largest broker Aon has revised its annual Terrorism Risk map to reflect an increase in the risk of terrorism across the globe.

Non-marine premium levels in the London company market have increased for the third year in a row, according to the latest statistics released by the International Underwriting Association (IUA).

Royal & Sun Alliance has reduced its exposure to securitised student loan losses by $129mn after settling with one of four banks suing the insurer’s US subsidiary Royal Indemnity Company.

South African broker Alexander Forbes saws its shares plummet by as much as 11 percent last week as it warned its year-end results would be lower than expected because of reduced earnings in its UK operations.

Bermudian reinsurers were “stirred, but not shaken” by 2004’s unprecedented hurricane and typhoon season, with return on equity down just 5.8 percent on 2003’s figure, according to the latest Benfield Bermuda Quarterly report.

Lloyd’s listed insurer Chaucer Holdings saw its shares rise by 1.5p to 54p on news that talks to takeover motor insurer Highway had failed. In contrast, Highway shares fell 2p to 37.5p after the Thursday’s (14 April) announcement.

Australia’s prosecutors showed their commitment to punishing corporate fraud by imprisoning the senior management behind the failed insurer HIH Insurance Ltd. Ray Williams – the founder of HIH – and his fellow director Rodney Adler were jailed for four

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) confirmed last week that it had opened an investigation into General Re’s Australian arm. Although widely expected, the news comes at a awkward time for the Berkshire Hathaway owned reinsurance gian