June 2009/5

QBE appoints Wulff to manage Credit and Surety division; Ascot shuffles pack; Benfield chairman moves aside; Avery to join Fenchurch Advisory Partners...

The US property casualty insurance industry saw a further decline in its surplus over the first quarter of 2009 as a $1.3bn net loss after tax combined with $16.4bn in unrealised capital loss on investments.

Ratings agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) raised its insurer financial strength rating on Nigeria-based African Reinsurance Corp to 'A-' from 'BBB+' with a stable outlook.

Bermudian (re)insurer Validus Holdings has said that IPC Holdings shareholders representing approximately 54 percent of total shares support acquisition by Validus, and that it has sent requisitions from the shareholders to IPC.

London market insurers writing liability cover for energy giant Sempra face a lower-than-expected payout, after the San Diego-based firm settled with homeowner insurers over liability for three California wildfires that devastated parts of the state.

Actuarial and risk management firm Towers Perrin Forster & Crosby – the parent of the world’s fourth largest insurance broker – has agreed a merger with fellow professional services firm Watson Wyatt Worldwide.

(Re)insurers are facing the possibility of a property and business interruption loss after last week's train crash on the Washington Metro, in a programme placed by Aon, The Insurance Insider's sister publication Inside FAC reports.

The International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) took a step forward in its attempts to strengthen co-ordination between international insurance regulatory bodies at the close of its triannual meeting...

Equitas, the legacy albatross that has hung around the neck of Lloyd's Names ever since its creation in 1996, can now be formally detached after the UK High Court approved the transfer to a new company, Equitas Insurance Ltd, on 25 June.

A lawyer that represented independent directors of AIG has disputed claims by former chief Maurice "Hank" Greenberg of a mutual agreement between the insurer and Starr International Co (SICO) to end a deferred compensation scheme.

Hiscox plc is leading a flurry of proposed bids among Lloyd's (re)insurers to expand their 2010 capacity in order to take advantage of anticipated good trading prospects and the stronger dollar.

By any measure, it was an eventful week for Lloyd's insurer Chaucer Holdings...