December 2011/1

Ironshore's Lloyd's managing agency Pembroke is set to continue its expansion in 2012 with the establishment of a £25mn stamp special purpose syndicate (SPS).

Lloyd's (re)insurer Chaucer is mulling whether to continue providing turnkey services to nascent Lloyd's syndicates, according to well-placed sources.

Aon Benfield, Guy Carpenter and Holborn are locked in a patent dispute over the proprietary catastrophe modelling software that the reinsurance brokers make available to their clients

Lloyd's Market Association chief executive David Gittings has welcomed the news that Lloyd's will trim its 2012 budget by 8 percent, saying that the measure shows "commendable resolve" from the Corporation.

Former New York attorney general Eliot Spitzer is again haunting US court rooms as another former Marsh executive is accusing the broker of hanging him out to dry as part of the infamous $850mn bid-rigging and contingent commissions settlement

BP has accused Halliburton of destroying evidence that showed the oil-field services giant should share part of the blame for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill

Five senior London market figures have confirmed they are standing for the three working member positions available in 2012

The memory of trading platform Kinnect continues to haunt new London market initiatives but Lloyd's - through Project Darwin - is hoping to bury the ghost once and for all

MarketScout: US market has turned; Thai floods $40bn; Axa to cut 1,600 German jobs; China increases; Duclos retires; Irene up to $4.5bn; HCC leads MF Global; CCR severs ties; Allianz duo defect; Munich Re CBI; Talanx IPO... finally

Torus acquires CV Starr business; Hudson Brown; Singapore Sling; Apollo lands; ProSight on target; Constable charged; Dual move; Torus twosome; Solvency II £2bn; R&Q's Synergy; Hard lines

Insurance tax experts have welcomed new proposals on overhauling the way the UK tax regime treats profits generated by overseas subsidiaries as a positive step in keeping London as a centre of excellence for global (re)insurance

Senator David Vitter has introduced legislation to the US Senate that would allow the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) to be extended through to 2013 as long-term reform eludes legislators