October 2007/1

The proposed Schemes for the 14 WFUM Pools Scheme Companies was sanctioned by the UK High Court on 17 September.

Lloyd's CEO Richard Ward has warned the industry that it faces a "severe skills shortage" and announced that the Society was launching a new graduate programme to attract talent.

The recent credit crunch is unlikely to dampen insurance linked securities (ILS) investor appetite, according to Standard & Poor's (S&P), as it highlighted increased trading in the secondary market for cat bonds.

Lloyd's has continued its recruitment drive to push process reform with the hiring of Anne Rannie from UK (re)insurer Hiscox Ltd.

Run-off insurer Alea Group Holdings has received a one-time payment of $203.6mn to "fully and finally" commute all exposures with its Bermudian neighbour Max Capital.

The debate last week over whether to end the "unfair advantage" enjoyed by Bermudians using US affiliates over American-domiciled rivals ended in a "stalemate", according to analysts at Morgan Stanley.

The European Commission (EC) may call for an end to the practice of contingent commissions in its long-awaited final report into business insurance.

Benfield Group's share price continued to climb today (1 October) with news that another US hedge fund has built its stake in the independent reinsurance specialist.

The bitter dispute between the former heads of Guy Carpenter's facultative (Fac) business and the company they worked for has reached an out of court settlement at the eleventh hour allowing them to join rival broker Integro Ltd.

Catlin Group Ltd has welcomed AM Best's upgrade of the outlook on the London-listed (re)insurer's A rating from negative to stable.

Marsh and McLennan Cos (MMC) effectively ruled out the immediate elevation of executive Phil Moyles as the next leader of its broking business, Marsh Inc, with a reshuffle of its senior executives last week.