October 2009/4

After a lengthy impasse, Russian-backed private equity firm Pamplona Capital Management finally upped its shareholding in Lloyd's insurer Chaucer to 16.27 percent on Friday (23 October).

Credit rating agencies Moody's and S&P have until the end of the week (30 October) to respond to fraud charges levelled in a far-reaching class action suit accusing them of masking the risks of the collapsed Cheyne SIV.

Luzi Hitz, CEO of European catastrophe information aggregator Perils AG, said the company's plans to provide a European industry-wide loss index will boost capacity in the European insurance-linked securities (ILS) and industry loss warranty (ILW) markets

As the European reinsurance industry descended upon the sleepy German spa town of Baden Baden yesterday to kick-start the annual reinsurance gathering, several key themes dominated early conversations.

With the Q3 reporting season picking up pace this week, strident third quarter results from early reporting US and Bermudian (re)insurers have brought the issue of capital management back into sharp focus.

AIG's challenge of retaining its key management may have got tougher last week, after the Obama administration's pay tsar Kenneth Feinberg imposed brutal cuts on the salaries of its most senior executives.

UK regulator the Financial Services Authority (FSA) weighed into the hot political topic of the supervision and regulation of financial institutions deemed "too big to fail" last week.

Swiss Re said it is "very well positioned" to enter January 2010 renewal discussions, but will focus on quality instead of quantity as it faces up to the pricing problems in key European markets.

The recession will continue to drive down demand for the ample insurance capacity in the US property casualty market and keep pressure on pricing in 2010, according to a report by Advisen.

In a reversal of normal industry practice, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled last week (22 October) that VAT is now liable on the cross-border sale of portfolios of reinsurance business

Mirroring the 2009 bounce-back within the global (re)insurance industry, Lloyd's pro forma capital base increased by 13 percent to £16bn in the first half of 2009 and 30 percent year-on-year.

Canadian combine Fairfax Financial Holdings (FFH) now owns 97 percent of Odyssey Re following the expiration of its cash tender offer for the remaining shares in its affiliated reinsurer.

Texas-based Southwest Insurance Partners Inc (SWIP) has named Arthur Seifert as CEO to drive expansion at its wholly owned underwriting agency, Bunker Hill Insurance Agency.

The well-managed run-off of the Illinois-headquartered Kemper Insurance Cos inspired the US P&C legacy industry to acknowledge Barbara Murray as its Run-Off Person of the Year.

Aon Benfield has moved to strengthen its Benelux division with the appointment of Hans Groot as COO, while adding two new members to its analytics team in the region.

Willis CFO and COO Patrick Regan is leaving the insurance broker to join the world's fifth largest insurance group, Aviva, as CFO.

Rates and premium levels for airlines have continued to increase for risks renewing in October, though brokers are divided as to the extent of the increases achieved.

A new draft of a bill on regulating credit rating agencies is set to be lodged in the US House of Representatives with key language dropped, according to reports.

The World Bank is launching a catastrophe bond issuance platform to give governments and other public entities access to international capital markets for natural catastrophe insurance.

Amlin-backed dedicated ILS investor Leadenhall Capital Partners has launched two $50mn Irish-based funds.

The convergence market's uneasy relationship with US liability perils should be rethought, as the prospect of a new era of tort expansion will create opportunities for the sector.

A global coalition of insurers has called on developed countries to agree to a 40 percent cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 at the UN climate change negotiations in Copenhagen in December.

Lloyd's (re)insurer Brit posted an upbeat Q3 management outlook Friday (23 October), as its reinsurance and UK markets business units achieved strong premium growth to offset declines at its global markets division.

Hartford Financial Services Group will pay $1.3mn to resolve a lawsuit from Connecticut attorney general Richard Blumenthal alleging that a former reinsurance business engaged in illegal price-fixing.