August 2008/3

Lloyd's insurer Amlin plc has continued its strategy of acquiring interests in small UK producers with the purchase of a minority stake in TL Dallas Group Ltd.

US insurer Allstate Corp has agreed to pay Florida regulators a $5mn fine and granted an additional 5.6 percent rate cut to the state's homeowners as part of its settlement with the jurisdiction.

Ratings agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) has maintained its Stable outlook for Lloyd's syndicates despite the increasingly challenging pricing environment they operate in.

UK insurance buyers group the Association of Insurance and Risk Managers (AIRMIC) has made a submission to the EU Commission supporting continuation of the block exemption.

Bermudian reinsurer RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd has terminated its retrocessional sidecar Starbound Reinsurance II Ltd.

Sagicor Group of Companies has announced that group net profits increased by around $9mn compared with the prior-year period after profiting from the Lloyd's platform it acquired in September 2007.

Tropical Storm Fay is expected to reach hurricane strength after crossing western Cuba and is on track to hit Florida later today (18 August), according to forecasters at Tropical Storm Risk.

Benfield Group Ltd received a boost last week after Merrill Lynch upgraded the stock to "Buy" following its solid first-half year results.

BluePoint Re Ltd, the Bermuda-based financial guaranty reinsurer owned by US bank Wachovia Corp, has filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection in New York, citing defaults on mortgage-related products.

Aon Corporation has announced the launch of a new Takaful unit, which will form part of its reinsurance arm Aon Re Global.

Bermudian energy mutual Oil Insurance Ltd has reduced the 2008 premiums due from its members at last month's board meeting.

Risk Management Solutions (RMS) has launched new winter storm and severe convective storm models for North America to assess losses from different weather events.