February 2010/3

London insurers were told last week that blueprints for the proposed relaunch of the New York Insurance Exchange (NYIE) - which is modelled on the structure at Lloyd's - will be set by September.

Despite bumper 2009 net profits, (re)insurers may already be failing to cover their cost of capital once the impact of prior-year reserve releases is stripped out.

US industrial construction company Performance Contractors Inc has filed a lawsuit against five Lloyd's insurers after suffering losses under the alleged $8bn Stanford Ponzi scheme.

Revenues at Aon and Willis were flat last year, but this steady overall global performance masked a sharp fall-off in recession-exposed UK business.

Lloyd's revealed a management team overhaul last week as it looks to implement its new three-year strategic plan, published last Monday (8 February).

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) said it was "difficult to see the justification" for significant fee increases announced by the FSA on Friday (12 February).

Hector Sants revealed he would stand down as CEO of UK regulator the Financial Services Authority (FSA) last week.

Warren Buffett emerged last week as the biggest single shareholder in Munich Re - and next month his holding could breach the 7 percent mark.

The governments of Pakistan, Iran and Turkey have agreed to establish an Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) reinsurance company headquartered in Karachi, according to local reports.

The final framework of Solvency II (SII) is likely to be "tamed down" from the greatly increased capital requirements in the latest Quantitative Impact Study (QIS5), says Swiss Re board member Martin Albers.

The New York Insurance Department (NYID) last week (10 February) adopted the final version of its producer compensation disclosure regulation, which from 2011 will allow brokers to accept the contingent commissions lost in the Spitzer era.

Pat Ryan - the founder and retired executive chairman of Aon Corporation - is set to launch Ryan Specialty Group, a new managing general agent (MGA).