October 2003/3

It seems that legislation to bring in an asbestos trust fund to compensate victims and end expensive lawsuits will stay log-jammed in the Senate after insurers refused to compromise on the contributions they would have to make.

Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s has responded to criticism of its recent reinsurer downgrades, explaining that poor long-term profitability, and not just a lack of capital adequacy, was the catalyst for its actions.

Benfield announced this week the creation of a terrorism reinsurance facility for all private insurers of property risks within the Swiss insurance market.

$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, a former CNA executive vice president of property and liability, who was to head up the E&O operation at Quant

Despite disapproval from the South African government, US class action lawyer Ed Fagan is threatening a $100bn suit against Alexander Forbes and a host of other companies because of their alleged mistreatment of over 10,000 employees during the apartheid

US giant Hartford Financial Services Group said this week that it would miss analysts’ earnings forecasts because of higher than expected exposures to Hurricane Isabel and high litigation costs.

California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi wasted no time last week in getting Governor-Elect Arnold Schwarzenegger on side in his quest for workers’ compensation reform.

As another Republican stepped in to try and rescue stalling asbestos reform, ratings agency AM Best released a report estimating that US property/casualty reserves still fall short by nearly 40 percent.

Beleaguered Lloyd’s insurer GoshawK was dealt another blow last week as ratings agency Standard & Poor’s followed Moody’s and downgraded Syndicate 102 by another notch, questioning its ability to trade forward into 2004.

Financial Institutions professional liability, a sector that has been decimated with higher than expected claims and coverage disputes in recent years, is to receive a new policy wordings form, courtesy of the Lloyd’s Market Association (LMA).

CNA Financial Corporation became the latest insurance Group to exit reinsurance last week 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 Bermu

Another spat between France and the US hit the headlines last week when it emerged that the French Justice Ministry had denied requests to extradite four Crédit Lyonnais executives in connection with the long running Executive Life dispute.