January 2007/3

Benfield Group has appointed Jeremy Goodman to a senior position in its facultative business, as it attempts to fill the void left by the high-profile defection of Elliot Richardson and a number of his team to rival Aon last September.

US giant Bank of America is set to launch a Lloyd’s syndicate specialising in writing long-tail lines, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

David Margrett, the former group chief executive of Heath Lambert, is to take over as chairman and CEO of Willis Ltd, the broker’s UK operation.

Swiss Re expects its net losses from the European windstorm Kyrill to be around EUR140mn and gave an overall loss estimate for the industry at the lower end of predictions.

The specialty insurance group Markel Corporation was fast out of the traps yesterday with its 2006 results that saw the group’s combined ratio fall from 101 percent in 2005 to a mere 87 percent.

UK regulator the Financial Services Authority (FSA) said today (24 January) that it believes the insurance industry has met the challenge to achieve a solution to contract certainty in the UK.

After a year-and-a-half long investigation, the European Commissioner for Competition Neelie Kroes has published her preliminary findings into business insurance which raise a number of concerns including "potential conflicts of interest" amongst brokers.

Despite losses estimated as high as EUR8bn, Europe’s (re)insurers are unlikely to see any rating downgrades from the windstorm Kyrill, according to Fitch Ratings Agency.

Share prices of Bermudian and Lloyd’s (re)insurers fell following the passage of a bill on Monday (22 January) that will see significant state intervention in the Florida insurance market and take an estimated $4bn premium ou

Florida lawmakers yesterday (22 January) overwhelmingly passed a bill aimed at lowering the cost of property insurance that will see significant state intervention in the insurance market.

Aon Corp has initiated a significant restructuring of its senior international management designed to enhance its client functions and global placement capabilities.

UK insurer Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Group plc (R&SA) has welcomed the ruling of a Michigan Circuit Court that General Motors (GM) is not entitled to coverage for its asbestos and environmental liabilities.