January 2004/5

Ashok Gupta, the architect of the £50mn+ Lloyd’s sponsored Kinnect project,has been replaced, Lloyd’s revealed today (19 January).

After months of speculation, Xchanging and IT provider Rebus iS look set to finalise merger plans, Insider Week can reveal.

A new online quoting engine specialising in D&O liability insurance for small to medium size enterprises has been launched.

According to the International Underwriting Association (IUA), most London Market (re)insurers are in a position to prove their eligibility for exemption from Federal Excise Tax (FET) as required by a recently imposed UK/US Tax Treaty.

Another new appointment at SVB last week as the Lloyd’s insurer unveiled Tony Hambro as a non-executive director.

Reinsurance broker Benfield announced Friday (16 January) that its Australian subsidiary Benfield (Australia) Pty Limited has bought rival Airs Re Pty Ltd.

Lloyd’s chairman Lord Levene has again focused on tort reform, US funding requirements and the “special relationship” between the UK and US in a speech to the Downtown Association in New York.

The recent round of renewals saw little change in market conditions as the reinsurance market generally upheld underwriting discipline, according to a report released today (19 January) by broker Benfield.

A total of seven different Lloyd’s syndicates have made cash calls, including Syndicate 271, Syndicate 506, Syndicate 744, Syndicate 957 and Syndicate 1101. The due date of the cash calls is 13 February.

According to a new report from rating agency Moody’s, statutory reserve requirements are making direct writers of US individual life insurance policies increasingly dependent on offshore reinsurance to offload growing reserving pressures from their balanc

The P&I market is performing below its full potential despite two years of hard markets, according to a new report release by HSBC Insurance Brokers.

Despite being the world’s fourth largest reinsurer, it wasn’t too long ago that General Electric’s Employers Re was up for sale. But a year after the reinsurer took a pre-tax $2.5bn fourth quarter charge which boosted asbestos and WTC reserves but dragged