April 2008/3

UK financial services group Prudential Plc has delivered a 13 percent increase in new business, at £729mn for the first quarter of 2008, despite a "challenging" economic environment.

China Re has opened its latest office in Hong Kong just days after it opened a representative office in London.

Three people have been confirmed dead and 40 are missing after Typhoon Neoguri slammed into southern China at the weekend.

The US economy woes are set to continue and worsen as it faces a one-in-100-year crash similar to the 1929 stock market meltdown that preceded the Great Depression, according to Prem Watsa, head of Fairfax Financial Holdings.

US life reinsurer Reinsurance Group of America (RGA) reported a sixty percent drop in net income to $31.5mn, or $0.49 per diluted share for the first quarter of 2008, spurred by "poor claims experience" in the US and UK mortality markets.

UK motor insurance rates will have to increase by approximately 20 percent for the sector to return to profitability, according to UK financial services firm AA's recent Insurance Index.

The Financial Services Commission (FSC) of Gibraltar has appointed Michael Oliver as head of insurance.

Former Catlin senior vice president Francis "Bud" Lockwood has been named as president of Montpelier Re's US unit, Montpelier Underwriting Inc (MUI).

The two former Marsh Inc executives who were found guilty in February of taking part in bid-rigging have been sentenced by a New York judge.

Integro Insurance Brokers is due to make two new appointments to boost its London platform.

At current pricing levels, it would take a $30-50bn ground-up property loss to reverse the slide in property cat reinsurance rates, according to Aon Re Global.

FGIC Corp is trying to woo investors to back a proposed new AAA-rated bond insurance business as it looks at strategic options in an attempt to secure its future.