January 2012/4

Bermudian cat specialist Montpelier Re and Japanese big three member Mitsui Sumitomo are among the 15 companies that have expressed interest in acquiring Hardy Underwriting, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

Lloyd's insurer Marketform has announced that Simon Turner stepped down as CEO and director of its managing agency and as a director of Marketform Limited with effect from 13 January 2012.

The appointment of Markel International's claims director Stuart Willoughby as global head of claims at Scor is likely to be the start of a merry-go-round of people moves at the top end of the claims profession, The Insurance Insider understands.

Canopius Syndicate 4444 has had its Lloyd's assessment level reduced from 3- to 2+ by Standard & Poor's (S&P), primarily as a result of a change in the capital charge imposed by the ratings agency on catastrophe business.

US insurance giant Chartis last week revealed that it has streamlined its operations into three major geographic zones as it looks to target growth economies.

Influential shareholder proxy firm Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS)' recommendation that Transatlantic Re shareholders vote for the agreed tie-up with Alleghany will be seen as a crucial boost before the 6 February investor poll on the transaction.

Rob Bredahl, CEO of Aon Benfield's investment banking group, and colleague Dan Malloy are joining John Berger-headed start-up Third Point Re.

Following a year of brutal cat losses, PartnerRe scaled back the amount of property cat aggregate that it wrote at 1 January by around a fifth, The Insurance Insider has learned.

Byrne departs Xchanging; HSBC $1bn shortlist; Talanx swoops; Aviation flat; Windsor builds binder team; XL appoints Chartis exec; Cincinnati Financial bucks trend; Swiss Re appoints Lies; Liberty promotes; AJ Gallagher acquires; Euro insurers downgrade

Current head of Willis Re Europe Tony Melia will be unveiled later this week as the new CEO of Willis Re International, The Insurance Insider has learned.

The voluminous amount of litigation against Chinese companies stemming from a wave of reverse-takeover US listings is expected to badly burn the directors' and officers' (D&O) insurance market.

Sometimes this industry can be its own worst enemy. A common complaint in the sector is that we are often widely misunderstood.