July 2003/1

Industry give cautious welcome to US Court decisions which reign in excesses of the Wall Street litigation; $1bn settlement removes 309 IPO companies from “laddering” litigation Insurers exposed to the myriad of US shareholder class action suits were

Start-up changes advisers while debating merits of Lloyd's over company Illium Insurance, the proposed UK liability start-up headed by respected ex Limit stalwart Denis Burniston and Russell Benzies, has applied to form a new Lloyd's Syndicate to begi

Giant German Munich Re has become the first international reinsurer to receive a nationwide composite operating license in China as penetration into the tightly controlled domestic market gathers pace.

Lloyd's (re)insurer Chaucer has written to Names increasing the offer for unaligned 2004 capacity on its proposed merged Syndicate 1084 from 7.5p to 11p per £1. Chaucer upped the offer after its initial 21 June proposal met with little enthusiasm from

Trenwick Managing Agency announced at the beginning of the month that it had stopped writing aviation business "with immediate effect". The firm, which hopes to announce a management buyout from its distressed parent Trenwick International later this mont

A Marsh takeover of UK broker HLF Group has taken a step closer to reality with the revelations that the world's largest insurance broker has begun due diligence proceedings.

Marsh reinsurance broking arm Guy Carpenter has become entangled in a competition dispute in the US with an IT outfit it partly owns. Ohioan software firm ReClaim Technologies and Services has filed a $10mn lawsuit against the broker for breach of cont

CXRe, the operation in run-off formerly known as CNA Re UK, is facing a £2.5mn lawsuit from St Paul Syndicate 314 for non-payment of claims. In its 18 June High Court filing, the Syndicate "claims damages in respect of the defendant's failure, in breac

Despite Lloyd’s chairman Lord Levene’s recent assertion that “capital is capital. I don’t understand why people should be fixated by a particular type of capital”, the Franchise Board of Lloyd’s has established a Working Group to advise on the Society’s f

Lloyd’s insurers are continuing to expand suggesting 2004 capacity will exceed £15bn Lloyd’s capacity should breach the £15bn barrier next year as managing agents continue expanding their capital bases to take advantage of the ripe trading conditions.

Damning judgment involving "grave dishonesty" and "corruption of standards" In one of the industry's most eagerly awaited judgments in modern times, Sphere Drake has avoided over $250mn of exposures after broker Stirling Cooke Brown was lambasted by a

Some of AIG’s “independent” directors have had unusual financial relationships with AIG or its affiliates, and may not be as independent as they appear to be. AIG’s failure to disclose these relationships to its shareholders raises questions about the com