October 2009/2

American International Group (AIG) is close to announcing the sale of its Taiwanese life assurance unit, according to reports, in what would be the largest deal to date in its asset shedding exercise to repay the US taxpayer.

Ahead of another key renewal date for the airline sector comes a further report that airline reinsurance prices are "generally rising" as underwriters digest a heavy loss year which is already fuelling significant primary rate increases.

At a lunch in the City last week, members of The Insurance Insider London One Hundred were treated to a devastating critique by a top UK financier of the parlous state of the UK government's finances.

HM Treasury has banned UK financial services companies from doing business with two Iranian companies, in a move that could see Lloyd's and London market (re)insurers pull cover.

Verisk Analytics - the holding company for the family of risk analysis and assessment firms that includes ISO and modelling firm AIR Worldwide - staged a successful initial public offering (IPO) of shares last week.

Estimated insured losses from Typhoon Melor for onshore properties in Japan range from $850mn to $1.5bn, according to risk modelling firm AIR Worldwide.

Royal Bank of Scotland is again considering selling off its insurance operations...

The trend of London market insurers fundraising through equity issuance looks set to continue, with the equity markets persisting as the "predominant source of new capital", according to the latest forecast from banking group Lloyds TSB.

The benign winds that characterised this year’s North Atlantic hurricane season could prove a double-edged sword.

A US district judge has ruled that Allen Stanford and other executives at the centre of charges relating to an alleged $7bn fraud may seek to tap into defence costs through a directors' and officers' (D&O) policy at Lloyd's.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is yet to break the silence over its assessment of Russian-backed private equity firm Pamplona Capital Management’s plans to build an influential 29.9 percent stake in Lloyd's insurer Chaucer.

Canadian Insurance combine Fairfax Financial Holdings (FFH) and its directors, including chairman and CEO Prem Watsa have been hit by a shareholder class action suit...