January 2008/4

The founder of failed Australian company HIH Insurance, Ray Williams, was released from jail last week but is still facing an inquiry into his finances.

Falling rates in US directors' and officers' (D&O) liability lines dropped 11 percent in the final quarter of last year - far outstripping decreases in other lines of business tracked by Advisen for the RIMS Benchmark Survey.

Legacy managers must adapt to the demands of new-style run-off portfolios if the sector is to be "genuinely perennial", according to Philip Grant, chairman of the Association of Run-Off Companies (ARC).

The global credit crunch has made its mark on Aon's 2008 Political and Economic Risk Map, resulting in the US and UK flagged as countries vulnerable to slow economic growth.

Lucida plc, a new insurance company headed by ex-Prudential plc CEO John Bloomer and backed by US hedge fund Cerberus Capital Management, has concluded its first reinsurance deal with Bank of Ireland Life (BOI Life).

Paul Karon, CEO of reinsurance intermediary Benfield’s US division, has sold more than half his stock in the company.

Nigel Roberts has joined broker Willis after leaving Aon Ltd last year.

US giant American International Group (AIG) leads the hull cover on the British Airways jet that crash-landed at London's Heathrow Airport with more than 150 people on board last week.

Lloyd's insurer Heritage Underwriting Agency remains a target for predators despite the withdrawal of Ironshore Inc's takeover interest, which was first revealed by The Insurance Insider.

AJ Gallagher & Co's Chicago neighbour Aon Corp has emerged as the frontrunner to buy Gallagher Re, the reinsurance broking firm put up-for-sale by its parent company.

US catastrophe claims reached $6.5bn in 2007, one of the lowest figures during the past decade, according to preliminary analysis by ISO's Property Claim Services Unit (PCS).

French reinsurer SCOR has no "material" exposure to the US financial guarantee market and the monoline insurers that have been hit by the global credit crunch, the group revealed.