April 2009/2

Zurich Financial Services Group has named former Converium CEO Inga Beale as global chief underwriting officer in a management reshuffle.

Standard and Poor’s (S&P) has revised its outlook on French composite insurer Groupama to negative from stable, citing increased pressure on the company’s capital adequacy resulting from the sharp decline in market conditions.

Fairfield Greenwich – one of the largest institutional investors in Bernard Madoff’s alleged $50bn Ponzi scheme – has been accused of “flagrant and recurring misrepresentations” that “give rise to fraud” by Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth Will

Ratings agency Moody's has completed a hat-trick of negative agency actions against Warren Buffett-owned Berkshire Hathaway, by downgrading the financial strength ratings on its insurance subsidiaries from Aaa to Aa1.

Rates for national US property-catastrophe reinsurance programmes rose by between 10 and 14 percent on a risk-adjusted basis at 1 April renewals, continuing the hardening trend seen in January’s renewals for catastrophe-exposed lines, according to broker

UK FTSE 100 companies are purchasing 20 percent more directors’ and officers’ (D&O) insurance compared to 12 months ago, amid heightened concerns over litigation, shareholder action, and increased regulator scrutiny...

Texas-based Southwest Insurance Partners Inc (SWIP) has put on hold plans for a private offering to raise up to an additional $100mn in capital due to the uncertain economic outlook, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

Global reinsurers' capital may have deteriorated by a further 10 percent in the first quarter of 2009 as stock markets continued to slide, according to Guy Carpenter (GC)’s head of business intelligence Chris Klein.

Reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter has completed its acquisition of smaller rival broker John B Collins (Collins).

Bermuda-based Ironshore has tapped into the steady stream of talent leaving struggling insurance giant American International Group (AIG) with the appointment of Tim McAuliffe - former president of AIG Excess Casualty - as president of its specialty casua

Hurricane forecasters from Colorado State University have lowered an early prediction of 14 named storms in the upcoming Atlantic season to 12.

Validus Holdings said it will use "all available means" - including the Bermuda legal system - to win over IPC Holdings shareholders, after its offer for the cat specialist was rebuffed by the reinsurer's board.