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.

The FBI has placed insurance fraud high on its agenda because of the size of the industry, according to its 2005 Financial Crimes Report released last month.

Broking start-up Integro has announced the appointment of five senior executives to its US operations.

MMC’s wholesale arms Price Forbes and Clump are likely to be the only significant units spun-out of the broking giant, the company confirmed last week.

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.

The Association of Lloyd’s Members welcomed the possible arrival of English Limited Liability Partnerships as an alternative investment vehicle for private Lloyd’s investors at its national conference last week.

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

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.

Lloyd’s members’ agency CBSPC has launched a new investment fund for private capital.