October 2007/4

Legacy business purchaser Ruxley Ventures has been given the green light to acquire the London branch of Italian giant Generali’s Swiss subsidiary, Generali Assurances Generale (GAG).

The UK’s non-life run-off liabilities decreased 14 percent last year while Lloyd’s open year liabilities were down by more than 30 percent, according to the Association of Run-Off Companies’s (ARC)’s most recent survey.

“Class of 2005” reinsurer Flagstone Re has been given the green light for its Middle Eastern operation, which will be based in Dubai.

UK life funds consolidator Resolution plc, which announced in July that it had agreed a merger with UK life insurer Friends Provident to create a £9bn insurance group Friends Financial, has rejected a takeover bid from UK rival...

The recent surge in war, political violence (WTPV) and terrorism and an explosion of global business expansion, could cost businesses dear if they fail to appreciate the risks they face, a leading Hiscox underwriter in the sector has warned.

Benfield Group Ltd has bought Canadian specialist energy brokers Beaufort International Insurance Inc and Beaufort Insurance Services Inc.

US insurance giant, American International Group (AIG), is a partner in a consortium, led by Richard Branson’s Virgin Money, to buy stricken UK mortgage bank, Northern Rock.

The £800mn pledged by the UK’s chancellor of the exchequer Alistair Darling in his pre-budget report has been criticised as insufficient by the insurance industry.

The jury in the trial of three former Independent Insurance executives was sent out to consider its verdict on 12 October.

Tysers has bucked the trend for small to mid-size London broker sales to larger rivals and private equity investors, after completing a management buyout transaction to secure its independence.

Hiscox Ltd has announced that it will not renew its $360mn sidecar Panther Re for the 2008 year, taking the tally of sidecar capacity to be run-off this year to over $1bn.

Trading on the recently launched Insurance Futures Exchange Services (IFEX) platform saw prices drop dramatically Friday (12 October) on 2007 event-linked futures contracts as traders anticipated a benign end to the hurricane season.