April 2009/4

Alea Group chief executive Mark Cloutier will step down next year, the run-off (re)insurer confirmed last week (24 April).

Directors' and officers' (D&O) commercial rates remain sluggish despite fears of a claims onslaught from the economic crisis, according to a survey by global broker Willis.

City General - owned by run-off manager Ruxley Ventures and advised by law firm Clyde & Co - has received court approval for a solvent scheme of arrangement to wind down the (re)insurance policies transferred to it in 2007 from the London branch of Genera

Hartford Financial Services Group may be broken up, after reports emerged that the beleaguered US insurer is seeking bids for its core property and casualty (P&C) business.

Ironshore's progress towards creating Lexington MKII continues unabated, with the appointment of Andrew Archambault as its senior reinsurance buyer and Edward Mazman as senior vice president of its US property unit.

Lancashire Insurance Group is filling part of the growing void in Gulf of Mexico (GOM) windstorm cover by opening up its Octopus product to the wider market.

Marsh is revamping its proposed facility with Berkshire Hathaway for Gulf of Mexico (GOM) windstorm risks in a bid to drum up interest, after receiving insufficient support from potential buyers to meet its planned launch date.

Lloyd's is set for a gain after making a tender to repurchase up to £100mn of the approximate £1.1bn in long-term corporate debt it manages - which in turn forms part of the central assets the Society holds on behalf of the market.

After being buoyed by comments from the G7 group of most industrialised nations on Friday (24 April) that the world economy was showing early signs of recovery, global stock markets slipped downwards again this morning amid fears of a swine flu epidemic.

UK independent broker Heath Lambert has lost another major account after rival firm AJ Gallagher (UK) captured French inter-dealer broker Viel & Cie (V&C), The Insurance Insider can reveal.

Short-term life business has never been a significant component of the Lloyd's mix and in recent years its share has shrunk even further.

While, as expected, the European Parliament took the significant step of approving the Solvency II framework directive last week (22 April) the compromise that excluded the contentious group support provision was described as a "missed opportunity" by Eur