August 2012/3

Major 2012 P&C mergers and acquisitions

Valuations for (re)insurers in The Insurance Insider's P&C universe

Weekly share price movements and key data on The Insurance Insider's universe of P&C (re)insurers and brokers

Two CNA subsidiaries have brought a lawsuit against 16 insurers, including several Lloyd's underwriters as well as industrial firm Hennessy Industries, over asbestos claims dating back to 1981.

Former Dewey & LeBoeuf partners have agreed to contribute over $70mn as part of a settlement agreement at the bankrupt law firm, exceeding the minimum $50mn threshold which bankruptcy advisers needed to submit the proposal to bankruptcy court.

BP has requested a reversal on a judgment ruling that Transocean's $950mn liability insurance programme should not cover BP's costs from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Newly instated QBE head John Neal said the group is currently in discussions with Florida insurance regulators to agree on an acceptable rate decrease for force-placed insurance cover, but said the rate is nowhere near the 36 percent reduction required by the regulator.

Newly launched QBE Re is set to turn its Belgian business Secura NV and Dublin-based unit QBE Re (Europe) into branch offices of a single firm headquartered in the UK, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

Willis has escaped enforcement action from US regulators after investigations into anti-bribery controls at the broking giant that had previously led to a £7mn Financial Services Authority (FSA) fine for Willis' UK subsidiary.

US thunderstorm losses have led ratings agency Moody's to downgrade a $50mn tranche of the Combine Re cat bond by a notch from Ba3 down to B1.

London-listed collateralised retrocessionaire Catco Reinsurance Opportunities Fund has reported a 5.3 percent increase in net asset value to $357.9mn for the first half of the year as investment gains on its 2012 portfolio offset loss creep from 2011 catastrophes.

After two consecutive quarters of relatively benign losses helped capital to recover to record levels, Bermudian (re)insurers have spoken favourably about using share buybacks to take advantage of weak sector valuations.