June 2006/1

Former Brit space underwriter Simon Clapham has been signed up by Sciemus Limited as director of insurance, initially to look after the LibSat satellite consortium contract with Liberty Syndicate Management.

Andrew Harding has been appointed chairman of the Marine Division of expanding insurance broker SBJ Limited.

Start-up UK insurer Novae Insurance Company Ltd announced last Thursday (1 June) that it has received an A- rating from a "leading rating agency".

Insurance giant Allianz unveiled the restructuring of its large corporate risks units this week while also confirming it was exiting marine reinsurance business after last year's destructive storm losses.

Swiss Re is expected to complete its acquisition of GE Insurance Solutions next Monday (12 June), Insider Week can reveal.

The Mineral Management Service (MMS) has said that the damage in the Gulf of Mexico caused by hurricanes Katrina and Rita could be worse than previously believed.

Lloyd's insurer Creechurch Underwriting Ltd parted company with its chief executive Bruce Graham last week, replacing him on an interim basis with the group underwriting director David Pye.

London-based broking proposition Oxygen Holdings plc today (5 June) announced two new appointments adding extensive experience to its energy and property teams.

Reinsurance broker Benfield Corporate Risk has opened its first Australian office. Based in Perth, the new office will focus on the development of specialty business in the energy, power and mining sectors.

Bermudian Allied World Assurance Holdings (AWAC) increased its first quarter profits by over 50 percent it announced on 30 May.

Dennis Kozlowski, the former CEO of manufacturing conglomerate Tyco, is seeking policy documents from Willis through the courts, as part of his bid to get an insurer to pay his $17.8mn legal bills.

Lloyd's insurer Kiln predicted improvements for three of its four syndicates when it updated its syndicate forecasts on 31 May.