August 2008/4

Receivers of Mainsail II LLC - the ailing structured investment vehicle (SIV) that a number of Lloyd's insurers are exposed to - have entered a restructuring and portfolio sale agreement with Goldman Sachs International (GSI).

Run-off specialist Enstar has completed the acquisition of failed (re)insurer GoshawK Insurance Holdings plc after securing ownership or offer acceptances for 89.4 percent of its issued shares.

Swiss Re has hired Alabama insurance commissioner Walter Bell as chairman of its US operations, Swiss Re America Holding Corporation.

Benfield Group Ltd is reshuffling management at its specialist space insurance broker International Space Brokers Inc (ISB) following the resignation of the division’s CEO Roger Bathurst.

Randall & Quilter Investment Holdings plc (R&Q) and GLOBAL Reinsurance Company have formed a partnership for the purchase and management of non-life run-off companies in Europe.

Despite difficult conditions and the ongoing capital markets turmoil, underlying performance by European insurers in the first half of 2008 remained relatively strong, according to a report by Moody's Investors Service.

The head of Marsh's global industry practices, James Enelow, is to leave the broker as the company continues with its restructuring plans, The Insurance Insider revealed earlier this week.

Five former General Re and American International Group (AIG) executives found guilty for their part in a sham reinsurance transaction could face lengthy sentences if prosecutors get their way, according to reports earlier this week.

Ratings agency Moody's Investors Service has affirmed the A3 insurance financial strength (IFS) ratings of Flagstone Reinsurance Ltd and its Flagstone Reassurance Suisse SA following the firm’s move to centralise its operating platform in Switzerland.

SCOR has had its Insurer Financial Strength (IFS) rating upgraded a notch to A by Fitch Ratings as the agency said the French reinsurer's past legacies are unlikely to return to haunt it.

Premium growth in the emerging markets of Eastern Europe saw Vienna Insurance Group post a 34 percent increase to EUR288mn in its first half profits.

Slow-moving Fay is expected to make a fourth landfall in Florida after becoming just the fourth storm in recorded history to hit the state's peninsula with tropical storm intensity three separate times.