April 2006/3

Michael Bright, the colourful founder of collapsed UK insurer Independent Insurance, will face trial on charges of conspiracy to defraud at a trial starting after Easter 2007, a preliminary hearing at Southwark Crown Court heard on the 24 March.

London insurers are showing new enthusiam for personal accident after recent market exodus The personal accident (PA) sector is enjoying a new found popularity in the London market after falling out of fashion in the late nineties.

The chances of a reform of the difficulties created by the Lloyd’s annual venture in time for the 2007 underwriting year look less sure following the meeting of the Society’s Franchise Board last month. Although there were no definitive proposals...

UK-listed broker Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group plc (JLT) has parted company with Dominic Collins, executive chairman of its JLT Risk Solutions division, who has resigned after more than 20 years with the company. The move follows plans for a...

Bermudian giant XL Capital is to float its financial guaranty business in an initial public offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange, the (re)insurer revealed in a 7 April statement. Funds raised will be used to boost capital and to...

As predicted in the January issue of The Insurance Insider, Allied World Assurance Holdings Ltd (AWAC) is set to become the last of the so-called “Class of 2001” to go public after filing for an initial public offering (IPO) of up to $400mn on 17 March.

Castlepoint Holdings Ltd is the latest reinsurer to be formed in Bermuda after the US investment bank Friedman, Billings Ramsey & Co Inc raised $265mn via a private placement for the start-up operation.

Following on from the early-reporting Lloyd’s listed vehicles (see March issue of The Insurance Insider), the latest clutch of 2005 results were mixed, with those escaping the devastating hurricane losses with a profit largely indebted to reserve...

The data processing and electronic transfer initiative being driven by the so-called “gang of six” (G6) is gathering momentum, with the completion of a first round of successful tests, agreement of standards and a ringing endorsement from the Lloyd’s...

The unlikely alliance between industry titans Maurice “Hank” Greenberg and Warren Buffett has led to the former American International Group (AIG) chief executive establishing an aviation underwriting platform in Lloyd’s.

Legal tit-for-tat is par for the course in the ongoing break-up between American International Group (AIG) and the company now run by its ex-CEO Hank Greenberg, CV Starr. The last month has proved no exception with action in two separate cases in...

As the hurricane season raged last year, Lloyd’s revealed that it had made a £1.38bn profit in the first half of 2005. The devastating impact of hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma (KRW) was unlikely to see the performance sustained, but the Society’s...