October 2007/4

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

The Association of Insurance and Reinsurance Run-Off Companies’ (AIRROC) third annual Rendez-Vous began today (15 October) in New Jersey with a record number of delegates in attendance.

Florida’s chief financial officer has proposed giving the state’s governor and cabinet the authority to set the reinsurance levels and pricing of the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund’s optional coverages.

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.

Steven Schulman has become the second former Milberg Weiss LLP partner to plead guilty in a long-running federal probe into the making of improper payments to clients in an alleged kickback scheme.

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.

Swiss Re run-off subsidiary, Pro Insurance Solutions Ltd has announced the formation of a US affiliate, PRO US, in a move which highlights the growing interest in the country’s discontinued business sector.

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).

Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has upgraded French insurer Groupama’s financial strength rating to A+ with stable outlook in response to the group’s increased operating performance, strong brand and its “readiness” to launch an initial public offe

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.

AJ Gallagher International’s (AJGI) new onshore/offshore energy and utility broking subsidiary is set begin operations in the New Year.

US property/casualty insurers are expected to pay homeowners and businesses an estimated $1.125bn for third-quarter property losses, according to preliminary analysis by ISO’s Property Claim Services (PCS) unit.

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

Bermudian start-up insurer Ironshore Inc has appointed former Lloyd’s CEO Ron Sandler to its board.

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.

Two members of Bermudian energy mutual Oil Insurance Limited (OIL) have decided to “withdraw their policies” from January next year.

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...

Bermudian reinsurer Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited is to launch a global excess casualty underwriting unit based in Dublin.

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.

Connecticut attorney general Richard Blumenthal has vowed to draw back the “cloak of secrecy” covering the “entire reinsurance industry” following the filing of an anti-trust lawsuit last week against global reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter.

After spending more than two years behind bars after pleading guilty to offences that helped bring down Australian insurer HIH, Rodney Adler has been freed from prison.

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.