September 2003/1

Munich Re executives met with London based analysts and fund managers earlier this month as the reinsurer sought to reassure the City in the light of its shock downgrade by rating agency Standard & Poor's. In August, Munich Re suffered the humiliatio

Belgo-Dutch insurer Fortis is set to spin-off its US insurance business in a 2004 New York Stock Exchange IPO that could value the business at around Eur4.2bn.

Following AM Best’s decision to downgrade SCOR to B++ this month, the French reinsurer goes into the key renewal season with its rating below the critical A- from the major agencies.

Hurricane Isabel, which hit the US eastern seaboard with heavy wind and rain on 18 September, is estimated to have caused $1billion of insured property damage - significantly less than early forecasts.

The $10mn fine handed to AIG this month (11 September) was a further sign that US regulators are scrutinising the industry's penchant for complicated financial instruments. The world's most valuable insurance company agreed to settle an investigation b

A new $550mn capitalised (re)insurer is set to be launched later this year with backing from US private equity houses and management shipped in from Swiss Re, The Insider can reveal. Bermudian based Quanta Capital Holdings Ltd will provide fresh (re)i

Crédit Lyonnais has announced that it has reached agreement with the United States Attorney's Office to settle a long running investigation into the French bank's 1991 acquisition of Los Angeles-based Executive Life Insurance Company. In a statement po

Lloyd's insurer Advent Capital (Holdings) plc revealed a welcome return to profit after the devastations of the 2001 underwriting year. The former BF Caudle agency is forecasting a strong profit of 25 percent on the 2002 year of its Syndicate 780, but

Capital providers at Lloyd's will see their fees reduced next year after the Society restructured the levies charged on each underwriting member. As predicted in the August edition of The Insider, Lloyd's will end the current 2 percent premium levy at

Recently announced Lloyd's liability start-up Illium Syndicate 4040 is on the fast track to making its underwriting debut after deciding to buy a majority stake in the existing Lloyd's managing agency of run-off specialist Omni Whittington. Illium will

Against the backdrop of US tort reform, some US insurers are lobbying to increase Equitas' burden of asbestos claims, warned Equitas’ new chief executive Scott Moser this month. Speaking at Equitas' annual meeting on 12 September, Moser applauded the

UK insurers are being warned that increases in US reserves against asbestos-related claims could be a taster of things to come for the London market. The warning comes after news that US underwriters have bolstered their reserves for asbestos-related c