October 2003/1

As long as average CEOs are paid as if they were superior CEOs, the issue of executive overcompensation won't go away. Where CEO pay is out of alignment with long-term corporate results, shareholders will not remain complacent. How, during the past two de

Dick Grasso, who by most accounts did a good job of running the NYSE, was forced from his position because he was paid so much that it became an embarrassment to his organization and to the board of directors that paid him so much money. David D 'Aless

Mike Hammond the former chief executive of broker Marsh's UK operations is to join rival Jardine Lloyd Thompson, it was revealed last month. Staff at JLT were told of the move by senior management and the news ended months of speculation over Hammond's

CNA Financial Corporation became the latest insurance Group to exit reinsurance when revealing that it has sold the renewal rights, together with much of its under-performing reinsurance book, to Folksamerica Reinsurance Company, a unit of Bermudian based

Embattled UK insurer Royal & Sun Alliance breathed a corporate sigh of relief this month after its £1bn rights issue went through with 92 percent of the 1.3bn new shares subscribed for by existing shareholders at 70p each. Although heavily discounted

Followers of US tort reform developments were teased this month with the prospect of a real breakthrough, as Republican Senator Bill Frist stepped in to rescue stalling asbestos talks, negotiating a new deal between insurers and industrial defendants over

Reinsurance spin-off Aspen Re is set to raise around $200mn if its NYSE IPO proceeds to plan next year, according to sources. Aspen Re, which specialises in property and casualty reinsurance in the UK, the US and Bermuda, has been seen as a prime IPO

The switch to one year accounting has presented analysts of publicly quoted companies (Integrated Lloyd's Vehicles, ILVs) at Lloyd's with a problem of measuring the investment performance of those companies. Under the unique three year system of accountin

After a failed final attempt at mediation, the sides in the controversial Aon 77 dispute are readying their corners ahead of a UK High Court trial, due to begin on 27 October in Court Room 22. The trial is scheduled to last for 10-12 weeks, with a Christm

Pot, kettle, black? Was Snide alone in feeling a delicious sense of irony on reading October's FT interview with Bruce Carnegie-Brown (16 October)? In its own inimitable style, the Pink One issued an opinion that "the insurance industry could face r

Heath's has settled much of its film finance exposures following the opening submissions in a critical High Court trial this month. The so-called "Phoenix" trial promised to set a marker for a series of multi-million dollar disputes involving insurance ba

The militant Lloyds Names Association (LNA) will attempt to recover up to £100mn from the Central Fund for what it describes as Lloyd's failure to adequately regulate the market, The Insider has learned. The move follows this summer’s landmark judgment

'Unreliable' evidence of veteran Lloyd’s underwriter ends accusations of negligence Coutts, the royal bankers, has been exonerated in a legal battle about whether it should have told a Lloyd's syndicate that its managing agents had not opened an Indepe

ACE's Syndicate 2488 underwriter Andrew Kendrick has been promoted to the role of president and chief executive officer of ACE Bermuda, replacing the current incumbent Mark Herman. Currently president of ACE Global Markets and a director of ACE INA UK

Personal accident specialist Jonathan Thomas is set to become the active underwriter of Creechurch's merged syndicates, if Lloyd's franchise performance director Rolf Tolle approves the move.

Silverstein and Swiss Re posturing continues but patience wears thin The war of words between parties in the World Trade Center (WTC) insurance dispute continues to rage, despite the growing clamour for resolution of costly legal proceedings that conti

Defunct Australian insurer HIH has won partial access to pleadings and legal information from AIG subsidiary Lexington Insurance Company to help advance possible fraud allegations against the broker JLT. HIH applied to the High Court following the Ju

$550mn start-up hit by breach of contract ruling The Quanta start-up story took a new turn last month when it emerged that Thomas F. Taylor, the former CNA executive vice president, who was to head up the E&O operation at Bermudian headquartered start

Lloyd's insurer Omega Underwriting Agents was forced to scale back its 2004 expansion plans following the failure of some members agents to fully support its ambitions. Nevertheless, the manager of Syndicate 958 will still expand its 2004 capacity by

The world's largest insurance broker Marsh is embroiled in an awkward $250mn policy wordings dispute with the London market over the placing of Financial Institutions insurance cover for its long-time banking associate JP Morgan. Despite renewing a ble

Controversial compulsory buyouts of Names on Lloyd's Syndicates look set to hit the headlines once again after a 3 October Court of Appeals hearing permitted a claim for Judicial Review against Lloyd's to proceed - a process that could challenge the Socie

Lloyd's personal accident market is braced for claims relating to the 3 October mauling of Roy Horn, one half of the stage act Siegfried & Roy, by a white tiger at the Mirage hotel, Las Vegas.

October was another eventful month for beleaguered Lloyd's insurer GoshawK, yet its future looks no less certain. Chief executive Chris Fagan denied suggestions that the management were considering a buy-out - telling The Insider “there is no truth in

Quoted Lloyd's insurer SVB is considering a 2004 fund raising to capitalise a new FSA-authorised insurer that would lead its charge in writing D&O, medical malpractice and professional indemnity business - a model similar to UK start up PRI Ltd before its