April 2007/3

Bermudian (re)insurer Max Re Capital Ltd is raising $100mn to repay short-term debt at its subsidiary Max USA Holdings Ltd.

Lexington Insurance Company, part of American International Group (AIG), has launched a new Casualty Mid Excess unit in London with capacity of $50mn.

The US property and casualty industry has made significant progress in funding its asbestos liabilities, according to rating agency AM Best.

Lloyd's has announced tie-ups with the outsourcing firm Xchanging and the trading platform RI3K that will enable its new Chinese reinsurance operation to trade electronically.

This year's North Atlantic hurricane season will provide a "litmus test" for the (re)insurance industry's ability to adapt, according to Fitch Ratings.

Reports published in the last week have again warned the insurance industry to expect increased financial losses as weather-related catastrophes worsen as a result of climate change.

Bermudian reinsurer Bridge Re, which is wholly owned by investment bank Dresdner Kleinwort, is set to provide a further $182.5mn of securitised capacity to the property catastrophe retrocession market.

Bermudian insurer Aspen has completed its search for a new chief financial officer with the appointment of Richard Houghton.

Xchanging, the outsourcing firm that runs the London market’s back office, has announced a tie-up with Web Connectivity for its Insurers’ Market Repository (IMR) Gateway service.

Takaful insurance is the key to increasing insurance awareness in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), capitalising on the positive economic dynamics of the region, according to a report published by Standard & Poor's (S&P).

Undervalued reinsurance stocks should be a target for investors, despite the common belief that shares in the sector trade down as the hurricane season approaches, according to analysts at investment bank Bear Stearns.

SCOR officially launched its hostile takeover bid for rival Converium last week (4 April) as it provided further details of the rationale behind the proposed deal which it hopes will create a top 5 global reinsurer and yield an A+ rating by 2010.