June 2005/2

Fellow Lloyd's insurers Hardy Underwriting Group plc and Omega Underwriting Holdings plc remain in merger talks despite the failure of two approaches.

Jeremy Pinchin, the head of Reinsurance and Claims at the Society and a senior member of the Franchise Performance directorate, has resigned from Lloyd’s.

Ratings agency AM Best has upgraded the financial strength rating of London (re)insurer QBE to "A" (Excellent) from "A-" (Excellent) and the company's issuer credit rating to "a+" from "a-", citing a stable outlook for both ratings.

French reinsurer SCOR last Friday (10 June) announced restructuring plans, reflecting the change in its profile brought about by the so-called “Moving Forward” plan actioned by the group in August last year to continue its recovery.

American International Group (AIG) disclosed last week that Howard I Smith, the company's former chief financial officer, has resigned from its board.

Merrill Lynch analyst Blair Stewart has reaffirmed his “buy” recommendation on Paris based (re)insurance giant Axa, while also increasing its price objective by 4 percent to EUR25.

Corporate Britain rates loss of reputation and business interruption as its biggest health risks in 2005, according to a survey by broker Aon ahead of the annual conference of The Association of Insurance and Risk Managers (AIRMIC) which kicks off in Brig

Reinsurance broker Benfield Group has warned that 2005 profits will be lower than last year because of an increasing cost base.

Despite boosting asbestos reserves by £167mn, Lloyd’s pre-1993 run-off vehicle Equitas heralded a year of progress which has left it in a stronger financial condition as it announced its financial results for the year ended 31 March 2005 today (7 June).

The European Parliament has approved the reinsurance directive which paves the way for a regulatory level playing field for companies operating in Europe.

After approving competition directorate proposals, the European Commission (EC) has today (13 June) announced the launch of a competition investigation into the commercial insurance sector.

A positive trading update from Lloyd’s (re)insurer Wellington was enough to give the company’s share price a small fillip to close up 4.61 percent at 107.75p Wednesday last week.