June 2008/3

Beleaguered bond insurer Security Capital Assurance (SCA) has lost a legal battle with investment banking giant Merrill Lynch & Co over its obligations of up to $3.1bn on credit default swaps (CDS).

French insurance giant AXA is re-approaching the capital markets with its third motor insurance securitisation, renewing the EUR61mn Class D notes from its 2007 Sparc transaction.

Lloyd's listed (re)insurer Beazley Group plc is to promote group finance director Andrew Horton to take over from Andrew Beazley as its CEO.

In another tough week for the stocks of the UK's quoted non-life insurers, RSA share price was a rare exception buoyed by vague suggestions of a possible bid from QBE.

US property & casualty insurers look set to post a modest underwriting loss and suffer significant reduction in profits and return on surplus for the year, according to Fitch Ratings.

Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group Plc (JLT) has acquired HWS Holdings Ltd (HWS) with its two Lloyd's broker subsidiaries for up to £8.75mn, as predicted by The Insurance Insider.

Brit Insurance Holdings Ltd has acquired a 38 percent stake in online insurance technology platform Xbridge for £7mn in a bid to further capitalise on the micro SME sector.

The Travelers Companies COO Brian MacLean has also been named president of the group after being promoted from executive vice president.

All the member governments of the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) have renewed their 2008 policies as this year's Atlantic hurricane season gets underway.

Alternative investment vehicle Juniperus Insurance Opportunity Fund (JIOF) has made its first investment, of $7.5mn, in Hannover Re's sidecar Globe Re, our sister publication Trading Risk revealed.

Heath Lambert's drive to divest itself of its wholesale business units to focus on UK retail was finally realised last week when the intermediary sold its Global Business Solutions (GBS) unit to Arthur J Gallagher International Ltd.

Space insurance underwriters are facing the prospect of yet another loss with the failure of a Kazakhstan communications satellite in orbit, The Insurance Insider revealed last week.