May 2007/5

Seven insurers reached a $2bn settlement with World Trade Center (WTC) developer Larry Silverstein last week bringing to an end more than five years of litigation between the parties.

Broker commission transparency is "inevitable", according to Peter Cullum, the founding chairman of Towergate Partnership, yet he insisted the London market needs to eradicate major inefficiencies in order to compete in the long-term.

Paris Re, the former reinsurance arm of AXA Re, has confirmed plans to list on the Paris-based, European Stock Exchange, Euronext, a year after it was acquired by a consortium of private equity firms.

Insurance broker Willis Group Holdings has applauded two US senators for introducing the National Insurance Act of 2007.

Bermudian (re)insurer Platinum Underwriters Holdings has appointed James Krantz as executive vice president and CFO.

Increased capacity and a low loss record are combining to soften the energy market and prices will fall "a good deal further" in the absence of catastrophe losses, according to a report published by Willis Group Holdings last week.

HSBC Insurance Brokers has appointed the former Marsh executive Philip Gregory to replace Mike Dixon as chief executive of the subsidiary.

Broking giant Marsh has established a new renewable energy team that will be headed by Susan Stokes and Tom Sexton.

Guy Carpenter & Co has appointed the former Benfield Group executive Charlie Fry as its global chief operating officer.

The global insurance industry is facing emerging risks, providing unparalleled opportunities for new product development, yet it needs support from the regulatory system in order to operate in a stable environment...

Insurers were given a stern warning about the state of the UK’s flood risk at the British Insurance Brokers Association conference in London last week. Professor David Crichton of Benfield’s Hazard Research Centre cautioned the industry that the UK’s Env

Royal & Sun Alliance (R&SA) last week bought out the 25 percent investment held by minority shareholders in its Scandinavian subsidiary Codan for £584mn.