July 2005/1

Sparks fly as fund manager lambasts management of Rosemont Re ahead of AGM. The largest shareholder in UK quoted reinsurer GoshawK has gone public with scathing criticisms of the company’s management in a letter sent to fellow shareholders ahead of...

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.

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.

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.

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".