July 2008/2

The shareholder vote by ACE Ltd to redomicile away from the Cayman Islands to Switzerland closes this week with preliminary results suggesting support for the move.

Investor pressure is thought to have been the key driver behind Zurich Financial Services (ZFS) sudden exit from the bidding process for the insurance business of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) announced last Thursday (11 July).

The departure of a group of senior executives from the property division of Heritage Underwriting Agency plc will be seen as a major blow to Argonaut Group International Holdings, which bought the Lloyd’s insurer earlier this year.

Following the withdrawal of Zurich Financial Services (ZFS) from the bidding process, the sale options for Royal Bank of Scotland's (RBS) insurance business look to be dwindling - along with the value the banking giant can expect to extract from the unit.

AIM-listed broker THB Group has appointed former Euclidian chairman James Truscott as managing director of its new underwriting agency Unicorn Underwriting Ltd.

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) and the UK Government have agreed on a number of new initiatives to ensure that flood insurance remains widely available for years to come.

A united response from broker trade bodies to a discussion paper from the Financial Services Authority (FSA) mooting mandatory commission disclosure is likely to be published in September, according to the Lloyd's Market Insurance Broker Committee (LMBC).

PartnerRe Ltd has become the latest reinsurer to enter the newly-deregulated Brazilian reinsurance market after receiving approval from the market regulator, SUSEP.

The New York State Insurance Department is due to hold three public hearings starting today (Monday) on contingent commissions and compensation disclosure.

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has appointed Gavin Phillips as its new head of London Market and Lloyd's insurance group.

Travelers' Lloyd's operation has been hit by the sudden departure of its head of global property Martin Pope, along with a team of underwriters, The Insurance Insider revealed last week.

Already beleaguered by depressed rates which are likely to continue to fall, European insurers could see their bottom line further eroded as economic conditions worsen and margins are sapped by the rise of direct sales, according to rating agency Standard