July 2005/1

David Spiller has resigned from his position as CEO of Benfield Group's International Division, the company announced in a statement to the London Stock Exchange this morning (7 July).

Share prices in Lloyd's (re)insurers have fallen sharply in response to the explosions which rocked London this morning.

Lloyd’s is parting company with two senior executives as part of a restructuring that will see the Corporation move further away from a regulatory emphasis to one of operational risk management.

Despite a softening market, Bermuda-headquartered (re)insurer Aspen last week (28 June) announced it expects its 2005 gross written premiums to be 20 to 25 percent higher than in 2004.

Uncertainty over the future of the federal backstop for insurance cover against acts of terror grew in Washington last week as US Treasury Secretary John Snow stated that the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) should not be renewed in its current form.

Lloyd's insurer Chaucer has said it aims to acquire the balance of £7.9mn of capacity on Syndicate 1084 through its subsidiary ALIT (No. 1) Limited.

Reinsurance broker Benfield’s strategy of growing its corporate primary business received a fillip with news that it has won the Seacor account from rival Marsh.

Jardine Lloyd Thompson admitted last week that it will again start charging placement service agreement (PSAs) revenues because of a lack of a "level playing field".

Start-up broker Integro Ltd has added to its growing roll call with the appointment of Craig Lowenthal as managing director and chief information officer.

Ratings agency AM Best has affirmed its syndicate rating of “A” (Excellent) and the issuer credit rating of “a” of Markel managed Lloyd’s Syndicate 3000, with both ratings on a stable outlook.

After finally filing its long delayed 2004 10-K report at the end of May, world's largest insurer AIG continued to play catch-up with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), delivering its first quarter 2005 results last Tuesday (27 June).

Australian regulator the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) announced last Thursday (30 June) that it had uncovered no evidence of systemic abuses of broker remuneration practices of the kind exposed by the Spitzer probe in the US.