August 2007/5

Despite the fact it was the third-most intense Atlantic hurricane to make landfall since records began Hurricane Dean's "extraordinarily fortunate track" left (re)insurers facing only modest losses.

Last week saw the first trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) of a Re-Ex Index catastrophe derivative, and a joint venture to launch a specialist insurance derivatives broker.

Lloyd's (re)insurer Kiln plc has improved its outlook on three of its four trading syndicates in 2005, the company confirmed last week.

Marsh & McLennan (MMC) is holding to its commitment to return funds to shareholders when it announced on 24 August that it would buy $800mn of its shares from a "financial institution".

The $45mn loss of a plane in Japan last week has pushed the airline sector closer to a tipping point, according to aviation analysts Ascend.

The unravelling of the "Spitzer" agreements made by the former New York attorney general and the global brokers in 2005 continued last week with news that Willis Group could also start charging fees to insurers.

The current crisis in the money markets has led to insurers cancelling planned debt issues, Insider Week can reveal.

Independent Insurance's London Market division was accepting "rubbish business" where "no premium was too cheap" the company's former chief executive Michael Bright told a court last week.

"Class of 2005" insurer Lancashire Holdings Ltd has appointed Neil McConachie as its chief risk officer.

Lloyd's insurer Novae Group plc has announced that Jonathan Butcher will become active underwriter of its Syndicate 2007 following the retirement of the incumbent Alan Hicks later this year.

Zurich Financial Services (ZFS) has confirmed that it has made a $30mn settlement for a class action lawsuit in the US.

Bermudian reinsurer PartnerRe Ltd has relocated its global reinsurance business to Dublin in order to take advantage of the Europe Union's regulatory regime, said the company.