October 2008/1

Shares in specialty (re)insurer Catlin Group Limited, were under pressure in London this morning as it unveiled Q3 estimates for mark to market investment declines and losses from Hurricane Ike and Gustav totalling 11 percent of shareholders’ Q2 equity.

After the gains of earlier in the week, European and Asian shares have continued to fall this morning (16 October) amid gloomy economic news both sides of the Atlantic.

Ascot Underwriting founder Martin Reith has stepped down as its CEO just months after agreeing a deal with American International Group (AIG) for the Lloyd’s insurer to become a wholly owned subsidiary of the troubled US giant.

New York attorney general Andrew Cuomo is to scrutinise executive compensation since the start of 2007 at American International Group (AIG) as he launched a probe into what he called “unwarranted and outrageous” spending by the fallen giant.

American International Group's (AIG) rescue deal with the US government will result in its liquidation, according to former chief executive Hank Greenberg.

Bermudian (re)insurer Max Capital Group Ltd will cut its allocation to alternative investments after being hit by poor results from the portfolio, while compatriot Allied World Assurance Company Holdings (AWAC) said it expects to take $210mn investment lo

The directors of nationalised UK bank Northern Rock will not be sued by its new owner over the collapse of the mortgage lender earlier this year.

WR Berkley has confirmed the hire of a financial institutions (FI) team from American International Group, as previously revealed by The Insurance Insider.

Broking giant Aon Corporation has agreed a $154.7mn deal to sell off its auto unit AIS Management Group to Mercury Insurance Group, California’s third-largest personal automobile insurer.

Berkshire Hathaway is restructuring its London market operations with a view to selling its Lloyd's insurer Marlborough Underwriting Agency, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

XL Capital shares have surged after the company reported an estimated third quarter net loss of $1.65bn to $1.67bn that included a $1.4bn charge in relation to its August transaction to close the majority of liabilities to former bond insurer affiliate Se

The global stock market crash has caused Yamato Life insurance, Japan’s nearly century old insurer, to declare bankruptcy overnight.