May 2009/3

A second Lehman Brothers-backed catastrophe bond is in default after issuer Ajax Re failed to repay principal at the 8 May redemption date, according to AM Best, which downgraded and withdrew its debt rating on the $100mn earthquake cat bond.

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.

With investor calls for peril diversification in insurance-linked securities (ILS), Munich Re's EUR100mn European windstorm and Turkish earthquake cat bond - Ianus - will be seen as a welcome move.

Paris Re has given a cautious welcome to price hardening in some of its core short-tail lines of business, but has again struck a notably less excitable tone than many in its global P&C (re)insurance peer group...

Bermuda was dealt a reprieve last week as US President Barack Obama left out of his $210bn tax revenue package proposals that would curb the ability of non-US insurers to cut tax bills by ceding US premiums to affiliated offshore reinsurers.

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.

Insurance giant Allianz saw its net income for the first quarter of 2009 drop by EUR1.12bn to EUR29mn compared to Q1 2008, as write-downs almost doubled to EUR708mn and its property and casualty (P&C) business produced sluggish figures.

Lloyd's (re)insurers Brit and Amlin impressed with strong figures in interim management statements last week, supporting strong top line growth with bullish comments on pricing.