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.

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).

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.

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

Royal Indemnity, previously the US arm of Royal & Sun Alliance (R&SA), has settled with MBIA Inc, one of the plaintiffs in the Student Finance Corporation litigation.

Lloyd's has taken measures to ease the passage of brokers wishing to access the market as it continues to execute its rolling three-year strategy of delivering the "platform of choice".

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.

German giant Allianz has become the first insurer to transfer flood risk to the capital markets with a $150mn cat bond issued by Cayman Island’s special purpose vehicle Blue Wings Ltd.

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