November 2010/4

Ambac Assurance Corp, a subsidiary of troubled bond insurer Ambac Financial Group Inc, has said banks may be liable for some of the losses resulting from poorly performing mortgage bonds that it insured.

Willis North America chairman and CEO Don Bailey has resigned and will join personal lines giant Allstate, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

Barclays hires new MD of insurance; Heath Lambert strengthens projects risks division; Canopius strengthens marine and North American facilities teams; Markel International expands trade credit division; Tawa announces share buyback programme; Russell Group launches underwriting software package.

Charles Taylor plc has warned that its full-year 2010 earnings will be at the lower end of expectations as its legacy operations continue to underperform.

Alea, the run-off reinsurer controlled by New York buy-out firm Fortress, is to de-list from the London Stock Exchange some five years after it was effectively forced to stop underwriting.

The damages that US wholesaler CRC Insurance Services was awarded against a former star broker who allegedly fabricated sales figures has been overturned by a California appeals court.

The barrage of litigation that Willis has faced from the Allen Stanford affair since 2009 has continued, the broker's last quarterly SEC filing has revealed.

The Sydow Firm is suing Lloyd's of London and the Society's legal representative Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld over unpaid legal fees relating to its defence of former Texan billionaire Sir Allen Stanford.

Lonmar Global Risks has settled with fellow London independent Tysers for court costs arising from a staff poaching trial that ended with all claims being dismissed, The Insurance Insider revealed.

Mariah Re, the first cat bond to focus solely on US thunderstorm risk, has closed fully placed, raising $100mn for new sponsor American Family Mutual Insurance.

Buyers of industry loss warranty (ILW) instruments are seeking more risky exposure to European wind to provide balance to the run of low-risk new cat bonds that have been issued in recent months.

Howden Broking Group has agreed a partnership with Mexican consultancy Financial Lines Advisory Group (Flag) to develop a range of financial lines products for the Latin American market.

Willis UK head David Margrett will take up the role of president and chief operating officer of Willis Global in addition to his existing responsibilities, The Insurance Insider has learnt.

The UK and western Europe face another cold winter but it will not be as severe as last year's "white-out" that left authorities scrambling to keep transport links open amid salt shortages, according to forecaster WSI (Weather Services International).

Growth in the Middle East is back on track after the 2008-09 construction slump hit the region's nascent insurance industry.

Injury-related costs from a mining explosion in New Zealand are unlikely to impact the international insurance industry, as accident cover is provided by a national compensation scheme.

Aspen Insurance UK has received regulatory approval to start underwriting from a Zurich branch as an admitted direct insurer.

Despite keen investor interest ignited by recent M&A activity, a combination of weak prospective underwriting margins and a perceived lack of capital efficiency will help keep overall equity valuations low in the (re)insurance sector, delegates at an Insurance Insider London One Hundred roundtable heard last week.

Caribbean insurer Sagicor's international property and casualty unit posted a $7.8mn loss in the third quarter as the London-based operation picked up losses from the New Zealand earthquake.

Outgoing PartnerRe CEO Patrick Thiele believes that a successful reinsurance operation requires a high level of integration between the underwriting and investment functions.

Zurich Financial Services has been upgraded by AM Best to reflect the global insurer's stronger balance sheet.

Ace CEO Evan Greenberg has set aside his long-term opposition to share buybacks by securing approval for a $600mn programme.

Start-up Bermudian reinsurance fund CATCo has signed up two executives from the Qatar Insurance Company to its board.

More than 95 percent of "Ground Zero" workers who helped clear up debris after the September 2001 terrorism attack on the World Trade Center have agreed to a compensation offer worth at least $625mn.