November 2007/5

Non-life insurers should escape the global credit crunch but not contagion from a possible economic stagnation or recession, according to research from Morgan Stanley.

Swiss Re's share price continued to fall this morning after losing almost 15 percent of their value last week following the firm's shock SFr1.2bn ($1.1bn) mark-to-market loss from credit default swap exposures.

A New York-based hedge fund has hit back at Canadian conglomerate Fairfax Financial Holdings with a counterclaim accusing the firm of defamation and a campaign of harassment and intimidation.

Gallagher London became the latest firm to levy an additional commission on the market as the weak dollar and falling rates continue to squeeze brokers' margins.

Administrators of loss-hit Kamp Re 2005, Zurich Financial Services' (ZFS) catastrophe bond, have extended the original maturity date by a month, to 14 January 2008, pending a final determination of the loss amounts.

French reinsurer SCOR SA will add to its Atlas suite of cat bonds with the EUR160mn Atlas IV bond, which is due to close on 27 November.

Underwriting discipline, capital management and improved prior-year syndicate forecasts were the dominant themes as Lloyd's (re)insurers reported trading updates last week.

Quoted Lloyd's insurer Novae Group plc is set to open a bloodstock account next year following the capture of a Brit Insurance underwriter.

Bermudian reinsurer Montpelier Re Holdings Ltd has extended the employment contract of its founding chairman and chief executive Tony Taylor until 2009, it confirmed last week.

The rules for Brazil's open reinsurance market are set to be published on 15 December, according to local sources.

Tawa plc, the UK quoted run-off consolidator controlled by French billionaire Francois Pinault, has launched Tawa Consulting Ltd, which will take on consulting and advisory operations.

Caribbean firm Sagicor Financial Corporation - which acquired Lloyd's insurer Gerling at Lloyd's and its Syndicate 1206 earlier this year - has announced a profit of Bd$136.7mn for the first nine months of the year...