May 2010/3

The fine art insurance market has been spared a potential EUR500mn mega-loss after the audacious theft of five masterpieces from the Museum of Modern Art in Paris last night (19 May), The Insurance Insider understands.

Financial/professional lines specialist Dual Corporate Risks has secured £5mn of capacity from AmTrust to write professional indemnity (PI) cover for insurance brokers.

Seven Lovells lawyers jump ship to Foley & Lardner...

Lloyd's and international (re)insurer Hardy saw its share price plummet almost 12 percent in afternoon trading today (17 May), as it surprised investors with the scale of its losses in the first quarter.

Fetooh Al Zayani, the former managing director of insurance and reinsurance at Qatar Financial Centre (QFC), has joined risk and insurance advisory group Kane.

The administrator of Quinn Insurance has confirmed there will be no return to the writing of UK professional indemnity (PI) insurance, as rumours of a rescue package from Anglo Irish Bank continue to percolate.

Bermudian-headquartered international specialty insurer Ironshore has completed a $250mn private debt offering of 8.50 percent senior notes, which become due in 2020.

Ratings agency Fitch assigned an A- insurer financial strength (IFS) rating to Validus Re last week.

Bermudian reinsurer PartnerRe revealed that Costas Miranthis will succeed Patrick Thiele as CEO at year-end.

The all-share merger between Bermudians Max Capital and Harbor Point completed last week to create $2bn gross written premium (re)insurer Alterra Capital.

UK broking houses approach higher risk business involving third parties "far too informally", according to the Financial Services Authority (FSA).

International (re)insurers writing business in the US face $17bn in new taxes over the next decade if the Neal Bill is passed, according to an expert congressional committee.