April 2008/3

Munich Re warned its first quarter 2008 profits are likely to be down on last year's, following "major losses" in the first three months of the year.

Lloyd's became the first admitted reinsurer in Brazil on 17 April despite doubts over whether the long-awaited deregulation would go ahead.

Credit crunch-hit Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) could sell insurance subsidiaries Direct Line and Churchill to raise up to £5bn, according to industry commentators.

Insurance Australia Group's (IAG) share price rocketed last week as the Australian insurer rebuffed a series of merger approaches from rival QBE Insurance with shareholders speculating that the firm is a prime candidate for takeover.

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

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.

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.

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.

Bermudian (re)insurer Ironshore Insurance Ltd's fledgling subsidiaries Ironshore Indemnity Inc (III) and Ironshore Specialty Insurance Company (ISIC) have been assigned A- financial strength ratings and issuer credit ratings of a- by AM Best.

Profits for the US property & casualty industry fell by almost $5bn to $66.5bn last year compared to the prior year period, according to rating agency AM Best.

On the 18 April anniversary of the 1906 San Francisco "big one", a magnitude 5.4 earthquake shook southern Illinois last week issuing a warning to (re)insurers, some of whom are already reducing quake coverage.