May 2009/3

XL boosts aviation team with Catlin hires; Arch CEO Iordanou takes on chairman role; Allianz Global in UK PI push; XL Insurance energy promotion; Cooper Gay bolsters EE energy business

Former Marsh & McLennan (MMC) president and CEO Michael Cherkasky has been named chairman of the New York State Commission of Public Integrity.

Airmic (the association of insurance and risk managers) has published its own guidelines for commercial insurance buyers in their dealings with brokers, calling for automatic, mandatory disclosure...

The joint venture that acts as the clearing house for the London market, Xchanging Ins-sure Services (XIS), has appointed Richard Bucknall to succeed its current chairman, Sir Laurie Magnus.

Mark Butterworth, managing director of Ironshore-owned Lloyd's reinsurer Pembroke, has resigned from the company and is working his notice, a spokesperson for Syndicate 4000 confirmed.

Troubled US insurer The Hartford Financial Serviced Group has been given a much needed fillip with preliminary approval for a $3.4bn participation in the US Treasury's Capital Purchase Program (CPP).

Newly founded Zurich-based Perils AG estimates the property insurance market loss for windstorm Klaus at EUR1.55bn.

UK-based engineering support services firm Babcock International Group plc is pioneering a £500mn longevity swap with Credit Suisse - the first in a series of transactions designed to hedge 45 percent of its £1.7bn defined pension liabilities.

Bahrain-based reinsurer Arig posted a first quarter net profit of $1.48mn, half the $2.96mn it posted for the first three months of 2008 but nevertheless a return to profit after it booked a full-year loss of $28.57mn last year.

Laura Pendergest-Holt, the chief investment officer for Stanford Financial Group, has been indicted by a Houston federal grand jury on charges of obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice.

After a recent surge, shares in Swiss Re took a volatile path last week as reports that the reinsurance giant was looking to undertake an equity issue at SFr32 compounded a stockbroker downgrade.

Following private equity firm Pamplona Capital Management's announcement last week that it would like to acquire a 29.9 percent stake in Lloyd’s insurer Chaucer Holdings, all eyes are on Brit Insurance...