June 2006/1

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.

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

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.

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.

Bermudian reinsurer Max Re last week filed its first quarter results, a move that should avert its delisting from the Nasdaq trading exchange.

The Atlanta-based American International Aviation Agency (AIAA) has re-branded itself as part of moves by CV Starr & Co's agencies to distance themselves from their previous relationships with American International Group (AIG).

The independent London market broker Glencairn Ltd has parted company with its compliance officer Chris Goodeve-Ballard.

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.

Rating agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) gave a preview of its updated risk-based capital model last week (1 June), saying that it does not see it as an "opportunity to raise the industry's overall capital requirements substantially".

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.

As revealed in Insider Week last Tuesday (30 May), Lloyd’s insurer Argenta Syndicate Management Ltd has parted company with its lead underwriter John Hyland after six years at the helm of its reinsurance focussed Syndicate 2121.