December 2009/3

Capita hires two senior staff; Axis Global & Health appoints vice president, reinsurance; Ironshore promotes New York regional executive...

Transatlantic in $200mn share buyback authorisation; Atrium's rating affirmed; Arig's credit rating upgraded; First Scottish office for Travelers...

Lloyd's (re)insurer Brit's recently Netherlands domiciled holding company today made a EUR314m launch on the London Stock Exchange.

Willis has completed its leveraged deal to restructure the capital of Gras Savoye & Cie with the original shareholders of the French broker and private equity fund Astorg Partners

The value of fines handed down by UK financial services supervisor the FSA in 2009 jumped 53 percent on 2008 (to Dec 31) to a record-breaking £34.8m, according to London law firm Reynolds Porter Chamberlain (RPC).

Smaller brokers trading in London have been offered the chance to plug in to the Lloyd's Exchange and other electronic initiatives such as the electronic claims files (ECF) and electronic accounting and settlement (A&S)...

US law firm Hogan & Hartson LLP and UK firm Lovells LLP are set to merge, creating a combine that would rank third globally by number of lawyers, with about 2,500, and eighth by revenue, with as much as $1.8bn.

The newly-launched PERILS European windstorm industry loss index has been chosen as the trigger on two industry loss warranty (ILW) contracts.

London market back office provider Xchanging is axing 250 jobs and will offshore a further 230 positions by the middle of 2010 in a new efficiency drive.  

The proposed solvent scheme of arrangement for the Camomile Pool was granted leave to convene a meeting of creditors by the UK High Court last week.

The bitter battle between run-off groups Enstar and Randall &Quilter (R&Q) will be fought in the UK after the English Court of Appeal upheld a jurisdictional ruling last week in the dispute over the US legacy insurers Seaton Insurance Co and Stonewall Insurance Co.

Despite a relatively quiet 2009, the Insurance Futures Exchange (IFEX), which trades US wind future contracts on the Chicago Climate Futures Exchange, is preparing for a flurry of new trading participants in 2010, The Insurance Insider understands.