July 2008/2

The US Treasury and Federal Reserve has attempted to stave off a further deepening of the credit crunch with plans for a temporary increase in a longstanding credit line for beleaguered mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

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

Static premium rates for lead hull & liability during June disguised an underlying trend in following markets that will see many airline operators find their cost of insurance higher than last year, according to broker Aon.

French reinsurer SCOR has announced plans to make 200 redundancies across the group as part of the reinsurer's integration of acquisitions Converium and Revios.

A sub-committee of the US House of Representatives has approved a measure that could lead to the creation of a national insurance office to remove state laws that conflict with international agreements.

Insured losses from natural catastrophes so far this year have totalled $13bn in a period that will be remembered for years to come for its high natural catastrophe death toll, according to reinsurance giant Munich Re.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has revealed "significant weaknesses" in ratingspractices following a 10-month investigation into rating agencies Moody's, Fitch and Standard & Poor's (S&P).

Insured losses from recent flooding in the US Midwest could be "as large or larger" than those recorded during the Great Flood of 1993, according to Standard & Poor's (S&P).

Recently launched SME online marketplace Coverzones has secured further funding with an investment from UK insurer MMA as it looks to expand its business, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

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.

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.

Reinsurance software specialist Q.Know Technologies Inc is understood to have closed doors to new business as the firm undergoes “financial restructuring”, The Insurance Insider can reveal.