March 2007/5

Stephen Catlin, the founding chief executive of insurance group Catlin Group plc, is the headline speaker at The Insurance Insider's Capital Management Executive Briefing event next month.

Xchanging is planning to raise up to £150mn in a planned April initial public offering (IPO) which could see the firm valued at over £400mn, Insider Week can reveal.

Bermudian Flagstone Reinsurance Holdings Ltd is expected to make its debut on the New York Stock Exchange this Thursday (29 March) as the (re)insurer goes ahead with its long-awaited $202mn IPO.

The insurance industry needs a real partnership between underwriters and brokers if it is to progress, according to Hiscox Ltd's chairman Robert Hiscox.

Italian (re)insurance giant Generali disappointed analysts by failing to announce a special share buyback scheme despite reporting record net profits of EUR2.4bn for 2006, a rise of 25.3 percent.

Lloyd's insurer Hardy Underwriting Group has revealed that it will stay in London, but that the possibility of moving to a low tax jurisdiction remains firmly in its sights.

Reinsurance broker Benfield Group continues to bolster its Facultative Solutions teams after last year’s mass defection to rival Aon Corp.

Managing agency CV Starr will be one of the underwriters for Lloyd's newly licensed Chinese reinsurance operation, it was revealed last week.

Forecaster Tropical Storm Risk (TSR) has again raised its predictions for this year’s North Atlantic hurricane season.

Lloyd's chairman Lord Levene, who has long campaigned for a lower corporate tax rate in the UK, endorsed the 2 percent cut made by Chancellor Gordon Brown in his final budget.

The Bermuda-based energy mutual Oil Insurance Ltd will increase its aggregation limits for all risks to $750mn when the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season begins later this year.

Catastrophe modelling agency Risk Management Services (RMS) has warned that a large earthquake striking near the Chinese capital Beijing could cause $100bn in (economic) damages.

A principles-based rather than a rules-based approach – not just to regulation but to running the entire industry – should be embraced by the industry, according to Joe Plumeri, chairman and CEO of Willis.

QBE Limit and Markel are set for a November High Court showdown with broker Surety Guarantee Consultants Ltd (SGC) over allegations of fraud in connection with construction bonds it issued as a coverholder.

RK Harrison, the independent London market broker, has confirmed the arrival of five former energy brokers from rival Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group plc (JLT).

French insurance giant AXA SA has denied it is interested in making a play for its Italian rival Generali Assicurazioni SpA.

Lloyd's-based insurers joined their peers in Europe and across the Atlantic in giving additional capital back to their shareholders.

PRO Insurance Solutions Ltd, the proposed Scheme Manager of the WFUM Pools Scheme, has confirmed that the 14 WFUM pools scheme companies are applying to the UK High Court for approval.

The spectre of asbestos returned to haunt reinsurance giant Munich Re as it revealed in its full annual report on 20 March a $600mn strengthening of loss reserves for related claims.

Two brokers from UK public and employer’s liability specialists Preston Whiteside were jailed last week for defrauding small businesses.