July 2008/1

Asked about the effect of sub-prime on XL Capital last year, Henry Keeling described the fall-out from the crisis as presenting an "attractive opportunity" for the Bermudian (re)insurer.

XL Capital has entered into a $1.775bn agreement with Security Capital Assurance (SCA) that commutes its pre-IPO guarantees and reinsurance of the troubled bond insurer.

Lloyd's (re)insurer Advent Capital Holdings plc share price fell by over 5 percent in early trading after revealing the extent of the year's heavy catastrophe claims.

Andrew Horton has made his first public appearance as the new Beazley CEO Lloyd's insurer became the first to report its 2008 interims.

Munich Re shares have fallen more than 11 percent this morning after the company issued a profits warning for the second quarter and full-year 2008 as its investment performance suffers amid capital markets turmoil.

Max Capital Group has become the latest Bermudian (re)insurer to acquire a Lloyd's platform after buying Imagine Group (UK) Ltd.

Beazley Group posted credible half-year results this morning (25 July) as it became the first Lloyd’s insurer to report its 2008 interims.

Lloyd's insurer Amlin plc is poised to enter the US market with a representative office in Illinois taking advantage of Lloyd's admitted licence to operate in the state.

The erratic pattern of Hurricane Dolly has provoked a debate amongst rival risk modelling firms over the extent of US insured losses after the storm made landfall in Texas yesterday (23 July).

US insurer Allstate appears to be emerging as the only serious contender in the auction of Royal Bank of Scotland’s (RBS) insurance operations as Friday’s bid deadline draws close.

Japanese insurer Tokio Marine Holdings is set to continue on its expansionary path with a $4.7bn deal to buy non-life insurer Philadelphia Consolidated Holding Corp (PCHC) in what would be the largest US acquisition by a Japanese financial firm.

Bermudian reinsurers Montpelier Re Holdings Ltd and Platinum Underwriters Holdings Ltd revealed mixed results for the second quarter as favourable reserve development helped mitigate the impact of softening market conditions on the bottom line.