December 2004/4

Troubled broking giant MMC finalised $3bn of financing last week soothing fears of a liquidity crunch as the firm strives to settle with the New York attorney general Eliot Spitzer.

Lloyd’s revealed last week that its 2005 global capacity is likely to shrink a higher than expected 9 percent to £13.7bn in response to falling rates.

Fast-growing Bermudian post-9/11 start-up Endurance Specialty saw it’s A- Standard & Poor’s ratings outlook updated from stable to positive last week (13 December) on the back of its “strong competitive position, which is supported by a diversified busine

2004 would have been the best year for the US P&C industry “in decades” were it not the for the third quarter storms, but next year is set to become the first year to witness an underwriting profit since 1978.

Fears over deteriorating conditions in the market for US Directors’ and Officers’ insurance (D&O) have been confirmed by actuarial consulting firm Tillinghast in its annual survey on the sector.

Nine months into its merged existence, US insurer The St Paul Travelers revealed last week (16 December) that it plans to slash the size of its board from 23 to a proposed 13 members.

Lloyd’s managing agent St Paul Syndicate Management Ltd (SPSM) has confirmed that it is in exclusive negotiations for the sale of its Cassidy Davis life Syndicate 779 to fellow Lloyd’s managing agency Jubilee, and hopes to complete the deal by 18 February

The Bermudian reinsurer Rosemont Re warned last week that its 2004 result is likely to be break even at best after upgrading the loss estimates from this year’s storms.

In the December edition of The Insurance Insider, we referred to the "Citibank backed Independence Re" in the article "Hedge Funds gamble on reinsurance".

Canadian holding company Fairfax Financial Holdings has announced the closure of its issuance of $300mn of subordinate voting shares (2,406,741 shares) to a number of institutional investors, including Markel Corporation ($100mn) and Southeastern Asset Ma

The Florida House of Representatives and the state Senate have changed the law on multiple deductibles on homeowners’ insurance policies – replacing them instead with a single seasonal deductible. In future, this means that if more than one hurricane caus

World’s largest insurer AIG is being sued by the State of Michigan for $30mn in losses on its pension fund resulting from the company’s stock falling on allegations that it aided accounting fraud by other companies, and its involvement in the Spitzer prob

A recent decision by the US Supreme Court on environmental liabilities could have profound consequences for the insurance industry, analysts at Morgan Stanley have warned.

As first reported in December’s edition of Insider Week sister publication The Insurance Insider, brokers Aon has gone public with Aon Broking Connections (ABC), its integrated electronic messaging platform.

John Tiner, CEO of UK regulator the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has challenged the London Market to improve contract certainty and to move to a more transparent and efficient business model.

Switzerland got a new reinsurer last week with the launch of Glacier Re, a niche, global specialty reinsurer backed by money from legendary investment guru George Soros.

The chief executive of Aspen Insurance Holdings’ US specialty insurer Aspen Specialty Insurance Company has resigned after admitting he supplied false information about his “educational credentials” in regulatory submissions.

Willis Group Holdings revealed today (20 December 2004) that it has bought the business of the Mexico insurance broker Maisterrena Asesores.

With the renewal season in full fling, Marsh’s reinsurance arm Guy Carpenter has committed itself to providing full disclosure to the fees it earns on reinsurance placements.

Japanese insurers Sompo Japan Insurance Inc and Aioi Insurance Co Ltd have each taken a 3 percent stake in a company formed by People’s Insurance Company of China Property and Casualty Co (PICC), the largest non-life company in China. Each insurer has in