June 2011/5

The US National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) has welcomed the efforts of three US states to implement the Non-admitted Insurance Multi-State Agreement (NIMA).

Texan lawmakers may be forced into another special session of Congress if they fail to agree to adequate reforms of the state-backed Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA), Governor Rick Perry has warned.

UK (re)insurers have just one week left to ensure they have taken adequate steps to comply with the anti-corruption laws due to come into force on 1 July.

Referral fees paid in exchange for the details of potential bodily injury claimants are again under scrutiny just days after the UK government confirmed they would not be banned under its proposals to reign in civil litigation costs.

UK financial firms have been warned to expect a more active and intrusive regulator when the current Financial Services Authority (FSA) is split into the government's proposed "twin peaks" approach, according to FSA guidelines published today (27 June).

Reinsurance brokers Aon Benfield Securities and Guy Carpenter were among the winners at the third annual Trading Risk awards held in London on 23 June.

Swiss-based ILS fund manager Clariden Leu hopes structurers will adopt its groundbreaking work on the private cat bond market, opening up a less formal route to create liquid reinsurance investments.

First-time cat bond issuer Argo Group said turning to the collateralised market was an attractive option in the current uncertain market, as a hedge against rising retrocession pricing.

The aggregate profitability of US P&C insurers fell during the first quarter of 2011 as the combined ratio widened sharply to 102.2 percent, offsetting growing written premiums and increased investment income.

The settlement of Weatherford International with BP last week suggests that parties in the Macondo disaster are starting to view settling as preferable to continuing protracted and acrimonious legal battles.

Bermudian reinsurers released further loss reports for the US spring storms last week, as industry loss estimates suggest a total of $15bn.

Aon Benfield has estimated that insured losses for the powerful tornado outbreaks that struck the US in April and May total $15bn - nearly three times the 1990-2010 annual average for severe weather losses.