December 2002/1

GE’s Employers Re – unloved and up for sale “ERC does not fit GE’s business model” said General Electric chairman and chief executive Jeff Immelt on 21 November as he revealed its reinsurer would cost the company another $2bn.

In the nineteenth century, American railroad companies sold land to Europeans using a timeless method: fraud. Cold, inhospitable prairie was advertised as warm and fertile farmland with a year-round growing season. Badlands were billed as tropical paradis

New Lloyd’s chairman demands council members put aside egos and differences Lord Levene of Portsoken, the first chairman of Lloyd's to come from outside the industry, has criticised the self interest and partisan nature of the Council, the Lloyd's mar

US Government terrorism insurance backstop causes concern for non-US carriers Insurance and reinsurance companies face a period of uncertainty as they try to understand the implications of the US Terrorism Risk Insurance Act 2002, announced on 26 Nove

ESG Re, the Bermuda based Life, Accident and Health reinsurer, has seen its problems multiply after a disastrous fortnight that included another downgrade, the resignation of its auditors and a threatened de-listing from Nasdaq.

Reserve increase likely as Equitas' parsimony threatened after arbitration ruling Equitas, the Lloyd's run-off reinsurer, may have suffered a serious blow in its strategy of fighting off asbestos claims which it believes are unwarranted, leading to fe

Insurers have claimed JP Morgan Chase “tricked, deceived and defrauded” them into underwriting approximately $2bn of finance deals with Enron, as the much-anticipated New York federal court trial finally got underway on 2 December.

Expectations of 2002 year profits for Lloyd's, after several disastrous years, could push the market’s capacity over £14bn for 2003, according to ratings agency Fitch. Karen Sinden, an analyst with Leadenhall Insurance Consultants, sees this as a reali

Managing agency under pressure - Lloyd’s grant stay of execution as funding deadline extended The Lloyd's insurer Greenwich Insurance Holdings PLC, and its Syndicate 994, may close unless a last minute funding deal can be arranged that will provide th

The importance of being Benfield When Lord Levene addressed the Lloyd's Council meeting in early November - his first as the new chairman of the Society - he made a curious remark. While thanking the reinsurance brokers Benfield for their kindness and for

Speculation over location of IPO ends with the surprise choice of London Benfield, one of the London market's leading brokers, surprised observers at the end of last month by revealing it was to choose London over New York for the location of its long

For the first time in over a decade, private capital has increased its underwriting participation at Lloyd's - over-turning a trend which a few years ago appeared terminal.