December 2004/3

Lloyd’s insurer Atrium announced improvements in its latest syndicate forecast updates last Tuesday (7 December), along with a fall in estimates for losses from the hurricane season.

Lloyd’s has announced that Lord Levene will serve a second term as chairman of the corporation.

Insurance fraudster Martin Frankel was sentenced to a reduced 17 years imprisonment last week after he promised to help the US authorities track down the $200mn he stole from a series of insurance companies.

US insurer Cigna has announced that it will pay the State of Connecticut more than $870,000 after an investigation by state attorney general Richard Blumenthal revealed it had concealed improper commission payments to a broker.

One of the world’s worst kept secrets finally became public last week when New York attorney general Eliot Spitzer announced plans to run for state governor.

Oxygen, the London market intermediary start-up formed this year, (see Insider Week No 142), last week announced the first team to join its Sian Fisher headed agency business.

(Re)insurers’ profitability continues to be threatened by the uncertainty of reinsurance disputes, a leading US lawyer has warned.

A $300mn European reinsurance start-up is set to launch tomorrow, Insider Week can reveal.

UK broker Windsor plc revealed its brokerage revenues had increased by 5 percent to £18.96mn to the year-end 30 September 2004 on the back of a “stable” UK insurance market.

Quanta, the youngest of the post-9/11 start-ups, confirmed one of the market’s worst kept secrets last Thursday (9 December) as it announced the formation of a new £80mn capacity specialty lines syndicate at Lloyd’s under the leadership of Mark Wheeler an

Bermudian headquartered (re)insurer Catlin saw its share price slip by 21p from 370p to 349p after it revealed a $25mn deterioration on its hurricane loss estimates last Friday (10 December) caused by higher than expected claims on energy installations in

Bermuda based (re)insurer XL has confirmed the appointment of Peter Bilsby as senior vice-president of its aviation arm. Bilsby, who will join the company early in 2005, is currently on gardening leave from his present position as joint managing director