February 2005/2

Lloyd’s insurer Hiscox plc has acquired the UK event cancellation provider Insurex Expo-Sure from Alexander Forbes.

Willis Re has announced the appointment of Peter C Hearn as head of its US operations following the promotion of his predecessor George Reeth to the position of president of Willis North America.

Bruce Carnegie-Brown, CEO of Marsh’s UK operations has been promoted to the position of president and CEO of the broker’s Europe and Middle East Operations.

ACE Ltd is confident that it can rebuff the lawsuit brought by Connecticut’s attorney general Richard Blumenthal alleging the Bermudian giant paid “kickbacks” to secure a workers’ compensation contract, according to its president and chief executive Evan

London market insurer Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance (London) Ltd (MSIL) has been awarded an AA- financial enhancement rating (FER) by the rating agency Standard & Poor’s.

Zurich based financial services group Credit Suisse revealed Friday (4 February) that it has upped its payable to XL by $257mn in relation to the Bermudian (re)insurer’s acquisition of Winterthur International back in 2001.

Lloyd’s was one of a host of (re)insurers to reveal their loss exposures to the recent catastrophes that have struck the industry.

Lloyd’s run-off vehicle Equitas continued its strategy of commuting its policies by announcing two significant agreements in recent days.

US reinsurance broker John P Woods Co has seen its founder defect to rival Towers Perrin only days after parent AJ Gallagher & Co announced it was rebranding its reinsurance operations as Gallagher RE.

Lloyd’s CEO Nick Prettejohn issued a stringent call for the UK’s Financial Services Authority (FSA) to take a more active role in preventing conflicts of interest caused by undisclosed broker commissions.

The giant US insurer St Paul Travelers Company capped a difficult week with the news that Doug Eliot, the respected chief executive of its commercial and personal lines, was leaving the company.

Heavy snowfall and poor visibility is suspected to be the chief cause of the Kam Air Boeing 737 crash last week in Afghanistan.