June 2007/4

Insurance claims are continuing to rise following severe storms on its East Coast over 9-10 June. The Insurance Council of Australia said the estimated cost of claims from the storm is now A$270mn.

The US Congress is due to discuss an extension to the federal Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) that is scheduled to expire at the end of the year.

Lloyd’s set the terms for the public issue of £500mn of tier 1 subordinated debt last week. Following a three-day investment road show, the Corporation saw its debt issue several times oversubscribed by institutional investors.

UK run-off management company Tawa announced a round of redundancies within its 90 staff in London last week, fuelling sentiment that the discontinued business sector is heading towards greater consolidation and streamlining of its resources.

Swiss reinsurer Glacier Re joined the list of carriers accessing the capital markets with a $75mn offering under a shelf programme providing it with retrocession cover from windstorm and earthquakes.

US insurer State Farm is set to place a giant $4bn cat programme, consisting of both bonds and loans, to provide retrocessional protection for one of its subsidiaries. The company has formed a special purpose vehicle, called Merna Re, which will provide

A flurry of (re)insurance activity in the capital markets last week ended with US giant Allstate Insurance launching a $2bn shelf catastrophe programme through a Cayman Island-based special purpose reinsurer Willow Re.

Aspen Re has become the first reinsurer to follow in the footsteps of the G6 with the launch of a live peer-to-peer electronic trading platform.

Expanding Australian sports underwriter Sportscover has announced the extension of its network into Ireland after teaming up with broker and sports specialist O’Driscoll O’Neil.

Lloyd’s has appointed Jose Ribeiro as its new director of International Markets and Business Development following the departure of Julian James earlier this year.

French reinsurer SCOR has resolved the US legal issues on its takeover of Converium Holdings and the deal’s formal offer period opened last week.

Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has upgraded the insurer financial strength rating of AXA’s core subsidiaries to AA from AA- citing the company’s successful integration of Winterthur.