ILS

A September ruling by a US federal judge could prove central to a 20 November lawsuit brought by five Ohio pension funds against the "big three" rating agencies.

Perils AG, established this year to aggregate and provide industry-wide European catastrophe insurance data, has launched its industry loss index service for European windstorm events.

Lloyd's insurer looks to stimulate investor interest by undertaking a bold bid to free up blocks of capital and generate capital efficiencies

A lack of Lloyd's Names support has led Munich Re to withdraw its sidecar vehicle Special Purpose Syndicate (SPS) 6108, which was slated to write a quota share of the new Syndicate 2318, Trading Risk understands.

The launch of a $250mn US wind and quake cat bond - Longpoint Re II from US insurer Travelers Indemnity Co - has brought 2009 cat bond issuance within range of the $3bn predicted by many in the convergence market.

Perils AG, established this year to aggregate and provide industry-wide European catastrophe insurance data, haslaunched its industry loss index service for European windstorm events.

The efficiency of insurance as a way of leveraging capital means that there will not be the need for as many microinsurance organisations as institutions, according to private equity fund specialists.

Five Ohio pension funds are suing rating agencies Standard & Poor's (S&P), Moody's and Fitch, accusing them of "wreaking havoc" on US financial markets.

The cat bond market has continued its rebound after the closure of Swiss Re's $75mn extreme mortality bond, Vita Capital IV, took total issuance this year to $2.2bn, while Scor launched Atlas VI.

ILS pioneer Swiss Re has increased the size of its Vita IV extreme mortality cat bond to $75mn and its Successor X US wind and quake transaction up to $120mn, due to investor demand.

Flagstone Re's US wind and quake cat bond Montana Re has increased in size by $55mn to $175mn during the marketing phase, with high investor demand pushing pricing to the low end of guidance, our sister publication Trading Risk has learned.

After the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) decided to make rating agencies more accountable for their advice, Standard & Poor's (S&P) said it will stop supplying ratings of corporate bonds and other debt-based securities to retail investors in Australia.