August 2007/5

Newly-listed Tawa plc has raided outsourcing firm Axiom Consulting as it strengthens its asbestos, pollution and health hazard (APH) team.

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.

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

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.

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 Spitzer fallout continues for Marsh & McLennan Cos (MMC) with the filing of an anti-trust lawsuit by the state of Ohio against the world's largest broker, along with American International Group and three other insurers.

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.

French reinsurer SCOR Group revealed a 55 percent increase in its gross written premium during the first half of this year, primarily driven by its acquisition of the life reinsurer Revios.

US giant Travelers' Lloyd's operation is set to become the latest managing agency to establish a Singapore presence through the Lloyd's Asia platform.

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 $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 Insurance Insider's Trading Risk event on the 6 September has now attracted over 350 registrants - meaning only subscribers to the publication can now register to attend.