March 2012/4

A key European Parliament committee has approved the draft Omnibus II legislation, helping ease industry fears that lawmakers would miss tight deadlines required to get the Solvency II legal framework in place for a 2014 launch.

The UK will cut its corporation tax rate again as the government unveiled a "pro-business" budget last week in a bid to end the flight of companies from London domiciles to overseas jurisdictions with lighter business tax regimes.

Swiss Re has closed its new multi-sponsor cat bond Combine Re on target at $200mn, offering an indication of ILS investor appetite at two very different ends of the US risk scale.

Bermudian (re)insurer Alterra is fundraising for another incarnation of its New Point fleet of retro sidecars ahead of the mid-year US renewal season.

Lloyd's will inevitably post a market-wide loss for 2011 this week, but if the distorting effect of Kiln's $700mn+ single contract Thai flood loss is excluded, the result actually comes in at a modest profit, according to The Insurance Insider's updated forecasts.

Novae, the other remaining "small-cap" player in the publicly listed composite, enjoyed only a modest uplift in its share price after the Hardy deal was announced, despite analysts touting it as the most likely beneficiary.

London's small cap (re)insurers should be boosted by the agreed sale of Hardy to CNA at 1.55x year-end net tangible assets (NTA), according to first-reaction notes from analysts and stock price movement since the deal was announced.

The handsome multiple to book value that CNA has agreed to pay Hardy shareholders has understandably gained much of the attention since the deal was announced.

Modelling firm Eqecat estimates that the magnitude 7.4 earthquake that struck 300km south of Mexico City overnight on 20 March will cost the insurance industry less than $100mn.

A coup ahead of Mali's April elections has put large firms operating in the country - including AngloGold Ashanti and Randgold - at risk of higher taxation and state interference, but (re)insurance markets are likely to escape the incident unscathed after both mining giants announced they had no political risk cover.

The disclosures of the world's biggest property cat underwriters have thrown up something of a mystery about the 1 January renewals.

John Paulson has welcomed last week's announcement that US composite The Hartford will put its underperforming individual annuities business into run-off, but said the decision did not address the main problem with the insurer's undervaluation.