February 2012/1

Reinsurer Scor said it experienced an overall rate increase of 2.2 percent across the EUR2bn of premium that renewed on the 1 January, fuelled by strong pricing in property cat business after last year's $100bn+ of catastrophe insured losses.

The Lloyd's platform of private equity backed Prosight Specialty Insurance is set to add new classes of business and a portion of the US book will transfer to London as it plots expansion in 2012, The Insurance Insider has learned

Investors are keenly anticipating Swiss Re's full-year financials, released 23 February, for news on a potential share buyback, though views are currently divided on whether the reinsurance giant will hand back capital or retain it to utilise in underwriting opportunities.

Further evidence of a turn in the underlying US insurance market was a consistent management theme during the earnings calls of early reporting P&C (re)insurers

German reinsurers Munich Re and Hannover Re were bullish on the outcome of the January renewals as they released preliminary results last month, although both warned there was no widespread pricing reaction to last year's catastrophe losses

The global brokers are a useful bellwether for the fortunes of the industry as a whole

The industry Thai flood loss estimate was poised to edge past $8bn after Lloyd's (re)insurers Amlin and Beazley unveiled figures on 7 February that suggested Lime Street cat writers could face a proportionately higher exposure to the loss than their Bermudian counterparties

Like December 2011, January was a strong month for global (re)insurance stocks. Does it imply investors foresee a "market turn"?

The future direction of the US nuclear industry's mutual insurer, Nuclear Electric Insurance Limited (Neil), is unclear at the start of 2012 as the organisation faces possibly the largest claim in its 38-year history, sister title Inside FAC has reported

The $1.75bn insolvency and default of European oil refiner Petroplus Holdings in January is set to be a significant event for the trade credit market, The Insurance Insider has revealed

With the reporting season in full swing, one of the defining features so far has been the substantial uplift in loss estimates for 2011 cat events - which are estimated to have cost the industry more than $100bn in total

The Costa Concordia shipwreck is set to cost the industry $750mn-$1bn, with losses widely spread around the market, according to the full details of the $500mn hull insurance placement obtained by The Insurance Insider

BB&T Insurance Services will become the largest US wholesaler and will surpass UK-listed JLT as the industry's sixth largest broking group following its acquisition of JC Flowers-owned Crump Group at the beginning of the month.

A quartet of January cat bonds raise $643mn while a restructured Zenkyoren bond sees a price rise

Founding Colemont Global CEO Surinder Beerh has won the case for wrongful dismissal that he brought against AmWINS on the grounds that the latter was guilty of a "wholesale failure to carry out any fair procedure"

San Francisco-based private equity house Parthenon has appointed Goldman Sachs to sell its 43 percent stake in AmWINS, The Insurance Insider can reveal

Industry loss warranty (ILW) trading will expand 10-25 percent this year to reach volumes of $6.5bn-$7.5bn, taking it back to levels last seen in the 2006-07 hard market following hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma

Marsh's decision to scale back its US wholesalers to a panel of just four is the most prominent example of a phenomenon that has swept the market over the last couple of years

Capital markets boosts Aon Benfield; Validus sidecar writes $76mn; Aquiline buys Juniperus

Indicative offers for up-for-sale Lloyd's carrier Hardy were due in on 8 February but there was still widespread scepticism in the financial community about Hardy's ability to get a deal done in the next two to three months

Introducing The Insurance Insider Asset Tracker - a tool to monitor the relative performance of a basket of asset classes that the sector is drawn to

In a sector where the bulk of assets are held in high quality fixed income investments that have continued to drop in yield, it is hardly surprising that CEOs and CIOs are looking to alternatives

Lloyd's is drawing towards the close of a feasibility study on the idea of a volume claims service that could centrally adjust low value, low complexity claims

UK-listed outsourcing firm Xchanging - which runs the back office for the London market - has responded to the Project Darwin initiative by staking a claim to remain at the heart of processing in London by producing a detailed overview of the options for technological reform

Stalled legislation needed to implement Solvency II could undermine the main goals of the regime, according to European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (Eiopa) chairman Gabriel Bernardino

Seven countries have expressed a tentative interest in being assessed for transitional equivalence to the Solvency II regime

The number of US lawsuits filed against Chinese companies listing on US exchanges rose almost threefold in 2011 to 62 cases, up from just 24 in 2010, according to Advisen's securities litigation report.

UK general insurers face a minimum increase of 36.7 percent to their levies from the Financial Services Authority (FSA)

Lawsuits alleging breach of fiduciary duty in M&A situations have driven securities litigation cases to a new high in 2011, US insurance analyst Advisen has said

BP has been dealt a second blow in as many weeks after a judge ruled that the UK oil giant must indemnify Halliburton for third party compensation claims arising from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill

US insurer Allstate has received a legal setback after a California court ruled that it could not hold Bank of America (BofA) liable for the toxic assets the insurer bought from Countrywide Financial Corporation (CFC)

French banking colossus Societe Générale (Soc Gen) is suing a host of London-based insurers over a $500mn claim for missing gold bullion that the insurers claim they are not liable for

The parent company of European legacy consultant Chiltington Group has purchased parts of a run-off portfolio from SV SparkassenVersicherung Holding AG (SVH), providing fresh evidence of the growing use of legacy solutions in continental Europe

Reinsurers do not expect Japan's other "big three" members, MS&AD and Tokio Marine, to follow NKSJ's lead by dramatically increasing their Thai loss number.

Zurich Financial Services (ZFS) could delay the auction process for the expected disposal of its legacy UK insurer Eagle Star until the second quarter, according to market sources

US P&C rates continue to rise; Transatlantic approves; $3.5bn mining crunch; Validation; Tokio Marine rewarded; European M&A rise; Axis move; Starr Wars; Brown & Brown reaches $1b;  Ironshore moves; Liberty claims; Integro hits $100mn