July 2008/3

The final defendant in the cases related to illegal payments made by Milberg Weiss has pleaded guilty to a charge over tax.

The scheme of arrangement on the four EW Payne Pools has been approved in the UK High Court.

London-headquartered (re)insurance broker Cooper Gay & Co Ltd secured £31.6mn of new funding last week which may help the fast-expanding group finance new acquisitions.

Aon Ltd has recruited ZFS executive Mark Chessher to become its chief financial officer later this year.

Everest Re is to set up a representative office in Brazil after it received approval to operate in the newly-deregulated reinsurance sector in May, according to reports.

The European Commission has cleared Berkshire Hathaway and Munich Re to complete their buyout of SCOR's stake in Global Aerospace Underwriting Managers (GAUM).

Max Capital president of reinsurance and co-founder John Doucette has left the company to "pursue other opportunities".

State Farm Insurance has blamed the Florida authorities for its decision to seek premium increases of nearly 50 percent across the state for homeowners insurance.

Integro Insurance Brokers has parted company with John Chippindale, the managing director and president of its Canada operation, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

Law firm Clyde & Co has hired Susan Stryker, formerly of Sterns & Weinroth, as it seeks to expand its US (re)insurance practice.

Towergate Partnership subsidiary Towergate Financial has raised over £100mn to establish a national independent financial adviser (IFA) operation which it plans to build with the acquisition of regional IFAs.

AM Best has left the ratings of Zurich Financial Services (ZFS) unchanged following the acquisition of a 50 percent stake in Spanish bank Banco Sabadell's insurance subsidiaries.

UK motor underwriters were buoyed by the news that average premiums increased in the second quarter after reporting falling rates for the first quarter, according to the AA's Insurance Index.

Xchanging is poised to agree a major outsourcing deal with the expansive (re)insurance broker Cooper Gay & Co Ltd to take on the firm's back office functions, The Insurance Insider revealed last week.

Lloyd's is "better positioned" to weather the current insurance cycle thanks to recent initiatives to shore up capital and limit pressure on the central fund, according to rating agency Moody's.

As the second quarter earnings season begins in earnest, asset drag and casualty reserve releases are expected to emerge as dominant themes, while investors will look for guidance on the spate of weather-related losses and potential sub-prime liability...

Bermudian (re)insurer XL Capital's woes appear to have deepened this week with at least one insurer, understood to be Chubb, taking the company off its security list for facultative placements, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

Oval Insurance Broking Ltd has appointed Marcus Simeoni to head up its London market casualty team.

Hannover Re received its second ratings boost this year when AM Best upgraded its issue credit rating from A to A+ and affirmed its A financial strength ratings with a positive outlook last week.

Growth is imperative for insurers despite the fact that recent history warns that the pursuit of growth in the insurance industry should be eyed skeptically, says a report by analysts at US investment bank Morgan Stanley.

Second quarter US cat losses, which the ISO has revised upwards to $6.03bn, are likely to hit the bottom line of personal as well as commercial lines insurers, according to the latest analysis from Fox-Pitt, Kelton.

Reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter & Company said there were no surprises as the market continued to soften at the 1/7 renewals.

As the global credit crisis continues to widen and deepen, separating companies whose share performance signals underlying concerns over the sub-prime fallout from those dragged down by the general stockmarket malaise is becoming increasingly difficult.

Imagine Group Holdings Ltd's chief underwriting officer Robert Forness is to leave the (re)insurer to head up Hiscox Bermuda, The Insurance Insider revealed today (21 July).

Tropical Storm Dolly motion is expected to move into the Gulf of Mexico and head towards the US/Mexico border later in the week, according to the United States National Hurricane Centre.

Rating agency Fitch Ratings has cut the outlook for Insurance Australia Group (IAG) from stable to negative having highlighted a number of challenges for the embattled insurance group.

European insurance and reinsurance trade body, the Comité Européen des Assurances (CEA) has renewed calls for an extension to regulation granting the insurance industry the ability to bypass certain competition laws.

Chinese insurance premiums were up 51 percent year-on year during the first six months of 2008, according to the country's financial regulator.

Willis Group Holdings named Gary Schmalzriedt as the chairman of its reinsurance brokerage, Willis Re, last week.

Bermudian (re)insurer ACE Limited has completed the redomestication of its holding company from the Cayman Islands to Zurich after receiving shareholder approval.

Bermudian-headquartered Scottish Re has seen one of its subsidiaries sink further into junk status last week just days after the embattled reinsurer finally published its full-year results.

Despite increased competition in the run-off sector and turbulence in the international credit markets, run-off specialist Randall & Quilter has revealed that there are still a number of business prospects it plans to explore.

As D-day approaches for the protracted auction of RBS' Insurance operations there are now thought to be just three insurers firmly in the running.

A landmark run-off transaction expected to come to market next month is understood to involve a subsidiary of Wurttembergische und Badische Versicherungs-AG (Wuba), The Insurance Insider can reveal.