January 2007/1

Apparent tensions between Catlin Group and AM Best re-surfaced last month with the rating agency confirming on 20 December that it would maintain its review with negative implications of the insurer’s rating despite the unconditional declaration of its ta

UK motor insurer Admiral has extended its long-term reinsurance agreement with Munich Re subsidiary Great Lakes Reinsurance.

Carbon Re, the Swiss reinsurer of greenhouse gas emissions-related projects, has launched Carbon Compliance Guarantee Insurance Syndicate (CCGI) to indemnify companies’ Certified Emission Reductions.

Aon Holdings BV announced that it has successfully completed the acquisition of the remaining 51 percent of the shares of Moscow-based Aon Rus LLC today (2 January).

HCC Insurance Holdings reported a record third quarter in its delayed earnings report last week and concluded its review of the company’s option granting practices that led to the shock departure of the insurer’s founding chief executive Stephen Way last

After last year’s record catastrophe insured losses of more than $100bn, the benign conditions of 2005 look like costing the (re)insurance industry just $15bn in losses from natural and man-made catastrophes, according to preliminary figures from Swiss Re

Beazley Group plc has increased its share of the capacity on its Lloyd’s syndicates to 81 percent with the acquisition of the corporate capital vehicle Santam Corporate Ltd.

US commercial insurers are on course for their best financial performance in nearly 20 years, according to figures from the ISO and Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI) covering the first nine months of 2006.

“Two large claims” incurred in January 2005 led to AM Best double downgrading Primary Group’s Irish insurance subsidiary Primary Insurance Company Ltd (PICL) before the Christmas break.

Munich Re regained its targeted AA- rating from Standard & Poor’s (S&P) last month with the rating agency upgrading the German giant from A+ and assigning a stable outlook on 22 December.

In a record year for securitisation in the sector, French reinsurer SCOR became the latest (re)insurer to issue a catastrophe bond, with its EUR120mn Atlas III transaction to cover against European windstorm and Japanese earthquake losses in late December

Ratings agency AM Best downgraded the financial strength rating of General Insurance Corp of India to A- from A on 18 December.