February 2008/4

The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) has entered into a joint venture with the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) as the emirate aims to establish itself as an international arbitration jurisdiction.

Profits at Arab Insurance Group (Arig) were down last year after the company took a $9.2mn hit from Cyclone Gonu.

Bermudian (re)insurer Max Capital Group Ltd has posted net income of $303.2mn, or $4.75 per fully diluted share, for the 2007 financial year - a 40 percent increase on 2006 boosted by strong growth in life and annuity premiums.

Investment losses have pushed net income at CNA Financial Corporation from $1.1bn in 2006 to $851mn last year as a result of credit market conditions and sub-prime exposure.

Negative goodwill arising out of the reverse merger of PXRE Group has boosted specialty (re)insurer Argo Group's 2007 results.

Excess capital is limiting growth opportunities in the reinsurance sector according to Jim Bryce, president and CEO of Bermudian reinsurer IPC Holdings.

Lancashire Holdings Ltd has only traded for two years and, with its focus on specialty short-tail lines, couldn't be better timed. The lack of US natural catastrophes, energy or terrorism losses has enabled the "Class of 2005" Bermudian start-up to post a

Zurich Financial Services Group's (ZFS) cost cutting plans helped push the company's profit to a record $5.6bn last year with improvements made across all its business divisions.

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has warned that tougher planning controls are needed if flood insurance is to remain widely available for new homes in the UK.

Bermudian financial guaranty and credit (re)insurance specialist Assured Guaranty Ltd (AGL) fell to a loss of $260.1mn in the fourth quarter of last year after taking a $297.5mn sub-prime derivative hit.

The number of sub-prime related cases filed in federal courts is dramatically outpacing the savings-and-loan (S&L) litigation of the early 1990s, according to a recent study.

A significant reduction in the UK’s run-off liabilities has driven a EUR2bn decrease across Europe, according to a new survey launched by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) in conjunction with the Association of Run-Off Companies.