March 2008/3

Liechtenstein-based liability insurer Gable Insurance has appointed Lance Ranger as its new chairman.

US property and casualty (P&C) insurance rates were down 14 percent on a composite basis in February, with rates in the worst-hit sector, commercial property, falling 17 percent in the period, according to US insurance aggregator MarketScout.

American International Group Inc (AIG) has been admitted on the Irish Stock Exchange with a par value of $2.50 per share.

The terms of the offer by French insurance giant AXA to acquire 100 percent of UK broker SBJ Group Ltd values the intermediary at more than twice its 2006 reported turnover of £76.14mn.

Ambac Assurance Corp, one of the monoline insurance sector's giants, lost 17 percent of its stock market value last week after revealing a $1.5bn recapitalisation plan that disappointed investors hoping for a bigger rescue effort.

Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group plc's (JLT) 2007 results were welcomed by analysts last week as a sign the firm may have turned the corner following recent restructurings and investments in its trading operations.

Lloyd's has approved Syndicate 2008 to write reinsurance to close (RITC) business, with the Shelbourne Syndicate Services Ltd (SSSL) managed vehicle already closing four open year syndicates with gross insurance reserves of around $455mn.

Ironshore Inc is carrying out due diligence on Lloyd's insurer Heritage Underwriting Agency after signing a non-disclosure agreement (NDA), our sister publication The Insurance Insider revealed today.

Lloyd's insurers will be able to accept business from brokers around the world, but the market's unique - and sometimes criticised - capital structure will not be overhauled, according to proposals that were published last week.

Aspen Re has become the first Bermudian reinsurer to implement electronic accounting and settlement (A&S).

German reinsurer Hannover Re is expected to report 2007 profits of EUR779mn on 12 March, according to analyst William Hawkins of Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW).

Wall Street banks could lose a further $325bn in capital due to deteriorating sub-prime US mortgages in the face of a "systemic margin call", according to JPMorgan.