June 2007/4

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.

UK regulator, the Financial Services Authority (FSA), has said that the biggest threats posed by the current boom in private equity are market abuse and conflicts of interest.

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.

Private equity giant The Carlyle Group has formed a financial services division to concentrate on the insurance and banking sectors, again highlighting investors’ appetite for the industry.

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.

Swiss (re)insurer, Zurich Financial Services Group announced today that with immediate effect, Mike Kerner will become global chief underwriting officer for general insurance.

Specialist actuarial consultants EMB has lured Duncan Anderson away from rival firm Watson Wyatt.

Broker Gallagher Re has announced the appointment of Mark Flower as chief actuary for its UK operations.

Giant US insurer American International Group (AIG) filed a $1bn lawsuit against its former CEO Maurice “Hank” Greenberg and ex-CFO Howard Smith last week.

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.

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.

Nephila Capital the Bermuda-based investment manager specialising in catastrophe reinsurance and weather risk, has announced the launch of Gamut Re, a reinsurance vehicle funded using collateralised debt obligations (CDOs).