February 2007/1

London market bodies reported an "electronic processing surge" and claimed that a quarter of all the market’s premium transactions could be handled by the end of February.

German reinsurer Cologne Re was hit by the exit of two board members, Arno Junke and Rainer Isringhaus, last week.

Converium Holdings' chief executive Inga Beale has continued to re-shape the reinsurer's management with the appointment of Benfield Group’s Jakob Eugster.

A US federal judge has ruled that former Gen Re and American International Group (AIG) execs accused of improper finite reinsurance transactions will have to face fraud charges.

Bermudian ACE Ltd became the latest (re)insurer to benefit from an unexpectedly benign catastrophe environment as it revealed record 2006 operating income of $2.35bn, last week.

When the reinsurance brokers published their 1/1 renewals analysis last month the general consensus was of flat-to-downward rating pressures outside of US catastrophe-exposed business, so there should have been little surprise when Munich Re...

Hannover Re is set to enter a landmark financial transaction that will lay off credit risk on its reinsurance recoverables to the capital markets, a move first revealed by The Insurance Insider in January last year.

A series of devastating tornadoes ripped through Central Florida last Friday (2 February), killing twenty people and cutting power supplies to more than 40,000 residents.

Lloyd's insurer Heritage Underwriting reported a 31 percent increase in its written premium last year.

"Class of 2005" member Lancashire Holdings has reassured investors that it would not be hit by the controversial increase in the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund.

Bermudian reinsurer White Mountains Re said its net written premiums were down for the final quarter of last year, and flat for the year, as improving rates for catastrophe exposed lines off-set falling markets elsewhere.

The industry continues to count the cost of last month's Windstorm Kyrill with ratings agency Moody's estimating insured losses of up to EUR8bn across Europe.