March 2008/3

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

Federal excise taxes (FET) imposed on insurance and reinsurance purchased from foreign insurers and reinsurers will be applied each time the risk is ceded, US tax authority the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) ruled last week.

The major catastrophe modelling agencies are again disagreeing over the size of losses arising from an event with estimates of insured losses from European Windstorm Emma varying between EUR300mn and EUR1.3bn.

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).

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.

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

The introduction of the European Union (EU) Solvency II directive in 2010 will have little immediate impact on credit ratings of European insurers but many fuel merger and acquisition (M&A) activity, according to a report by Fitch Ratings.

Today (10 March) is the last day of dealing in Lloyd’s (re)insurer Kiln shares ahead of the company's acquisition by Tokio Marine.

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.

Listed Bermudian run-off firm Enstar Group Ltd reported a drop in its full-year profits last year despite seeing its asset base grow by a third through acquisitions.

Bermudian-headquartered run-off company Alea Group Holdings' outstanding liabilities now stand at around $1.5bn after a series of major commutations, the company announced in its 2007 results.