July 2009/1

A packed courtroom at the UK High Court last week (2 July) heard the final arguments in the three-week trial between Berkshire Hathaway's Equitas and Randall & Quilter (R&Q)-owned Brandywine.

Hannover Re CEO Wihelm Zeller retired on 30 June as planned, after over 13 years with the company...

Lloyd's and Bermuda (re)insurer Omega Insurance Holdings declared its Names capacity buyback initiative a success last week, after receiving acceptances of approximately £45.7mn of capacity.

After a first quarter in which it outperformed the FTSE All Share index total return, the UK non-life insurance sector has failed to pick up on the widespread bounce in the equity markets in Q2.

Aon moved swiftly to appoint a new CEO of its UK operations, naming Rob Brown to the position.

XL Insurance - the London-based subsidiary of Bermudian (re)insurer XL Capital - has named Neil Robertson as replacement for the recently departed chief underwriting officer (CUO) of its global specialty business...

The resurgence of reinsurance as a stable form of capital is seeing Europe's P&C reinsurance giants enter into more transactions with stretched life insurers.

Brit Insurance has hired former XL Capital chief processing officer Malcolm Beane as COO, effective from 21 September

Swiss-domiciled reinsurer Flagstone Reinsurance Holdings has entered the race to buy in-play Bermudian cat specialist IPC Holdings, with an offer for all outstanding shares that beats the current best offer by $4.76 a share.

Guy Swayne, CEO of Flagstone Réassurance Suisse - the Swiss subsidiary of Flagstone Reinsurance Holdings - will return to Bermuda to resume his role as chief underwriting officer for the reinsurer’s international team.

PartnerRe's swoop for Paris Re has served as a reminder that while global (re)insurers are trading at below book or net tangible asset values, the temptation for premium-rated peers to turn acquirer for low-priced peers...

Former Aviva Group executive Patrick Snowball has been appointed as CEO of struggling Australian financial services group Suncorp-Metway, effective 1 September.