March 2001/1

E W BLANCH A victim from the Unicover fallout, Blanch looks out on a limb as takeover speculation mounts On 6 May 1993, in the midst of strong investor confidence in insurance and reinsurance stocks, E W Blanch went public. Viewed as one of the US's

Flashpoint’s sister company British International Group claims to be a victim of forged Far East binders. In an exclusive investigation, The Insurance Insider investigates David Forrest’s unhappy involvement with the murky world of insurance con-men and c

Controversial film financier Flashpoint calls in administrators and admits to misusing insurers’ monies. S&P react with largest single downgrade of a European bond

Lloyd’s is accused of trying to bribe the disgraced former Californian Insurance Commissioner Chuck Quackenbush in helping fight aggrieved US names. The disgraced former Californian Insurance Commissioner is facing allegations that he covered up a $400

The Insurance Insider profiles the world’s two biggest brokers, and discovers that the time is ripe for Aon to reign in its bête noire’s outperformance. Take two brokers of a similar size; the first with annual brokerage of $4.4bn, the second slightly

The former darling of the city is looking lonely after under-reserving When even the house broker is forced to reduce its recommendation to a neutral, you know you are in trouble. Michael Bright, the outgoing chief executive of Independent Insurance P

Tax reform bolsters results but disappointment with Clarendon acquisition gives weight to the Cassandras. Hannover Re, the world’s fifth largest reinsurer, expects gross premium income to grow by 25 percent for 2000 to some €8.4bn. However, pre-tax inc

Lloyd’s have announced that the Market’s total loss for the 1998 underwriting year will be £1.06bn, with current projections for 1999 of £1.11bn.

The controversy over the Antwerp Re arbitration - where London Market reinsurers successfully avoided reinsurance exposure causing Antwerp Re's insolvency - has deepened with the development that some London Market reinsurers actually paid their share of

The London contingency market, which routinely attracts publicity for covering outlandish risks such as prize indemnity and sporting non-events, has itself been washed out by that double whammy of too many claims and too much capacity. The latest departur

A fall out with management has led to Charman’s shock resignation from ACE, one month after his promotion to Group President of ACE International The shock announcement that John Charman has left the global insurer ACE has led to fierce speculation ab