October 2007/2

German insurance giant Allianz SE is expected to launch a new issue of European peril catastrophe bonds through a newly created vehicle, Blue Fin Ltd, The Insurance Insider understands.

Brian O'Hara, president and CEO of Bermudian (re)insurer XL Capital has announced that he will retire from the post in mid-2008, drawing the current chairman, ex-Chase Manhattan Bank CFO Michael Esposito, to also announce his departure...

It may have been another benign year for US hurricanes, but IPCRe’s international book means it has inevitably taken a number of hefty non-US catastrophe losses, not least from the UK summer floods.

Michael Bright, the former chief executive of failed UK insurer Independent Insurance Group plc (IIG), has been jailed for seven years for his role in covering up one of Britain’s “worst commercial disasters”.

John Charman will stay on as CEO and president of AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd for at least a further year after the Bermudian (re)insurer extended his contract to 31 December 2009.

Michael Bright’s lawyer has pleaded with a judge for clemency after being found guilty of fraud ahead of his sentencing tomorrow (24 October).

Michael Bright, the former chief executive of failed UK insurer Independent Insurance Group plc, and two of his directors were behind bars today for covering up one of Britain’s “worst commercial disasters”.

Bermudian reinsurers Everest Re and PartnerRe both reported third quarter results comfortably ahead of analysts’ estimates after benefiting from this year’s low US catastrophe losses.

Amlin Bermuda (ABL) has been upgraded to A (Excellent) from A- (Excellent) by ratings agency AM Best after “conservative implementation” of its business plan and a strong performance from the group’s Lloyd’s syndicate.

Lehman Bros has been given the green light by the Financial Services Authority to begin trading at its subsidiary Libero Ventures Ltd - a new unit that aims to improve capital efficiency for (re)insurers by shifting exposures to the capital markets.

A US court has ruled that there was "misappropriation of Gen Re trade secrets" in connection with the defection of a team of the reinsurer's senior facultative (fac) executives to Arch Capital Group in April.

Brit CEO Dane Douetil will step down from his role as the head of the group driving London market process reform at the end of the year, he announced at an Insurance Institute of London lecture today (18 October).