December 2005/2

US politicians brought some relief to the (re)insurance industry on 18 November with the news that the US Senate had approved a bill to extend the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) for a further two years until the end of 2007.

William Dewsall, the former managing director of Hogarth Underwriting, is set to be appointed CEO of planned construction and liability insurer Gable Insurance AG. The new company is the result of the acquisition of Liechtenstein-based Duke Brown AG...

Reinsurance specialist broker, JK Buckenham Ltd (JKB) has announced the creation of JKB USA, which has been formed in partnership with US broker Performance Insurance Services.

Chances of 2005 profit slim, as 2006 capacity up 7% to £14.7bn Losses to the Lloyd’s market from the trio of devastating hurricanes this year will top $5bn, according to latest estimates revealed on 30 November.

AIG restates again after $500mn discovery ; Quanta woes continue ; Hannover profits blown out by storms ; French riots cost AXA EUR50mn ; Ex-HIH finance chief faces criminal charges ; Loss record broken, says ISO ; Segal sentenced to ten years et al...

Rating agency AM Best is set to seal its stamp of authority on Bermuda’s “Class of 2005” (re)insurers when it publishes inaugural financial strength ratings for a number of the start-ups in the forthcoming days. At time of going to press, AM Best...

Lloyd’s to pioneer Islamic (re)insurance ; Beazley forms new £200mn Syndicate ; Alea winds down London arm ; Brit commits to dividend and raises £150mn in debt issue ; Lloyd’s and Willis get Chinese approval ; Agnew Higgins wins International et al...

Lloyd’s heavyweights chose November to hint at a three-year plan which the Society will look to implement from next year. In a lecture, Chairman Lord Levene talked of the tasks ahead and said: “Nick [Prettejohn, Lloyd’s retiring CEO] and his team...

Creditors of KWELM are set to receive payments of $770mn this month, as the average payout from the run-offs rises to 88.7 percent.

There were further developments at failed (re)insurer GoshawK last month as the London Stock Exchange-listed company continued to restructure to run-off, with a number of management changes, the announcement of a possible rights issue...

The 23rd of November saw a gala night of charity white collar boxing as The Insurance Insider, hosted “A Hard Market?” on behalf of the London insurance industry.

If Swiss Re successfully completes its acquisition of GE’s (re)insurance operations next year, it seems likely it will come at a price, after the four leading rating agencies announced they may downgrade the reinsurance giant.