September 2007/2

Chaucer Holdings plc has confirmed a new £135mn private equity-backed Lloyd’s syndicate – Antares Syndicate 1274 – to take on the London market portfolio of WürttUK, as first revealed by The Insurance Insider last month.

Robert Bredahl, the global head of Benfield Advisory and president of Benfield Inc, has sold all of his stock in the reinsurance intermediary.

The bitter dispute between the former heads of Guy Carpenter’s facultative (Fac) business and the company they worked for has reached an out of court settlement at the eleventh hour allowing them to join rival broker Integro Ltd.

US hedge fund Deccan Value Advisors (DVA) has built a near 10 percent stake in Benfield Group Ltd fuelling speculation of its potential as an M&A target.

Shares in reinsurance broker Benfield Group Ltd rose more than 12 percent to 305p in early trading this morning (28 September) following reports of aborted takeover talks with the private equity arm of Goldman Sachs.

Marsh Inc – the broking giant which parted company with its chief executive Brian Storms suddenly this month – is looking to appoint an external candidate to replace him, The Insurance Insider understands.

Lloyd’s placed the emphasis on cycle management as it released strong interim results this morning, with pre-tax profits of £1.81bn, up from £1.35bn in the first half of 2006.

The European Commission's (EC) long-awaited final report into business insurance has told the industry to justify or reform its co-insurance practices.

Heritage Underwriting Agency Ltd has become the latest specialist Lloyd’s insurer to publish sparkling interim results with profits climbing by as much as 250 percent to £10.5mn for the first half of the year.

Bermudian quota share start-up Maiden Holdings Ltd has filed for a $500mn+ initial public offering (IPO) which would see it list on New York’s NASDAQ Exchange.

The House of Representatives approved a Bill on 19 September that would extend the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) for 15 years despite the White House stating it would veto...

German insurance giant Allianz SE is believed to be purchasing a minority stake in expanding UK broker consolidator Oval Group, continuing the trend for insurers to acquire greater control of distribution networks, according to sources.

Brit Insurance Holdings plc is to form a Gibraltar based protected cell reinsurer which will provide reinsurance to the UK insurance group.

Veteran class action lawyer Bill Lerach, who represented Enron investors and other shareholders suing large corporations, faces up to two years in jail and will be forced to pay $8mn in fines after pleading guilty...

Specialist Lloyd's (re)insurer, Atrium Underwriting reported pre-tax profits of £23.8mn for the first half of 2007, an increase of 300 percent on the same period last year.

Bermuda-based (re)insurer Omega Insurance Holdings announced a 119 percent increase in pre-tax profits to $20.4mn for the first half of 2007, driven largely by Bermudian subsidiary Omega Specialty.

At the end of an extraordinary week for broker Marsh Inc, Brian Storms stepped down as CEO of the company.

First half profits at Co-operative Financial Services (CFS), the banking and insurance subsidiary of the UK consumer conglomerate The Co-operative Group, tumbled by 53 percent to £38mn as a result of "exceptional weather-related losses".

Lloyd’s insurer Novae Group plc’s investment performance has helped the firm beat analysts’ forecasts and post a 22 percent improvement in its first half pre-tax profits.

Lloyd’s (re)insurer Hardy Underwriting Group plc remained upbeat despite pricing pressures as it posted a 49 percent increase in its pre-tax profits for the half-year.

Deutsche Bank is set to launch the trading in catastrophe event-linked futures on the Chicago Climate Futures Exchange (CCFE) later this month, it announced today (12 September).

Bermudian Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd is set to open an office in Continental Europe, with the fast-growing (re)insurance hub of Zurich the likely target, according to sources.

Validus Re will take a decision shortly on whether to renew its $200mn energy sidecar Petrel Re but says it looks likely to continue with the facility.

Swiss (re)insurance giant, Zurich Financial Services Group, has revealed a net loss estimate of $260mn for the UK July floods, bringing the group’s total tally for this summer’s events to $660mn.

Hamish Roberts has resigned from JLT Agnew Higgins to head up Aon’s expansion into the power sector.

Specialist Lloyd’s insurance group Chaucer Holdings plc announced continued strong financial performance, with pre-tax profit of £47.9mn, despite softening rates across most lines of business.

Spreads of Lloyd's subordinated debt over the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) have widened since late July as concerns over US sub-prime mortgages hit credit markets.

After finally closing its $2.8bn protracted acquisition of rival Converium Holding AG, French reinsurer SCOR wasted little time in setting out its stall as it aims to push into the top 5 of global reinsurers.

A trio of European (re)insurers filed interim figures that largely escaped the fallout from the US sub-prime crisis, but revealed the impact of the year’s non-US catastrophe losses.

Although revenue growth impressed at Benfield Group Ltd's Corporate Risk business (BCR), shares in the broker fell as the John Lapsley headed division reported a trading loss of £4.6mn...

Bill Lerach, the veteran class action lawyer who represented Enron investors and other shareholders suing large corporations, will retire from the law firm he founded to fight allegations of improper activity...

Fears that the sub-prime debacle may impact the insurance industry are beginning to materialise as a lawsuit brought against US mortgage bank, Countrywide Financial may turn into a directors’ and officers’ (D&O) claim...

Hard-pressed airline insurers mull cut backs as renewals beckon; NYMEX trades first insurance derivative; S&P chief steps down amid sub-prime criticism; MMC in $800mn share repurchase...

Underwriting agency Temple Legal Protection has appealed to the High Court after QBE Europe was given the right to manage its book of after-the-event insurance.

Benfield Group has become the latest reinsurance broker to respond to the growth in insurance linked securities with the creation of a new team to advise on non-traditional risk transfer solutions.

Lloyd's results season picked up in earnest over the last four weeks as companies posted broadly healthy figures tempered by warnings of increased competition and tougher times ahead.

Rating agencies and other analysts have provided welcome reassurance over (re)insurers' direct exposure to the ongoing sub-prime turmoil.

Despite fears that the insurance-linked securities (ILS) train could be de-railed by the recent turmoil in the financial markets, investor interest is expected to grow over the next 12-18 months...

Just one month after QBE expressed frustration with members' agents for their refusal to recommend an increased bid to buy out Names' capacity, Lloyd’s Franchise Performance Board (FPB) has expressed doubts...

Canopius and Beaufort latest to confirm interest

Premium rates in reinsurance will continue to decline at the January 2008 renewals in the absence of any major insurance losses, analysts at Fitch Ratings have predicted.

A US bankruptcy judge has approved The Travelers Cos' settlement of one of its largest asbestos exposures for $449mn.

New York law firms LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae LLP and Dewey Ballantine announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement to merge...

The nascent insurance-linked securities (ILS) marketplace is on track to become "one of the great and exciting stories of financial innovation in the next five to ten years", according to Michael Spencer...

Bermudian (re)insurer White Mountains Group is mulling an innovative motor securitisation, signalling the continued broadening of the insurance-linked securities (ILS) sector from its catastrophe risk roots...

Newly-listed Tawa plc raided outsourcing firm Axiom Consulting to strengthen its asbestos, pollution and health hazard (APH) expertise.

Our monthly column keeping check on US and EU legal and regulatory developments, in association with Sidley Austin LLP

Bermudian Arch Capital Group has struck back at Gen Re in the latest round of the legal disputes over the departure of four Gen Re executives to Arch in April.

Less than a year after Spitzer's departure, brokers are looking for additional revenues. But who will actually be paying?

Banks may begin to warehouse (re)insurance risk as securitisation momentum continues

The timing of Canopius Group Ltd's launch of a $250mn, class 3 Bermudian reinsurer, Canopius Bermuda Ltd, has raised eyebrows when rates are peddling downwards.

Afinia Capital Group has joined the tide of new entrants to the discontinued business sector with backing from high profile capital markets players.

Despite signs earlier in the year that demand was drying up for the vehicles, a new model of sidecar is emerging, with the recent launch of Mont Gele Re and Emerson Re.

Firms are bracing themselves for the imminent publication of the European Commission's report into business insurance.

The price paid for Lark Insurance Broking Group by Groupama UK after it triumphed in a four way bidding contest has once again highlighted the increasing value of distribution channels to UK-based insurers.

Insurance services company Whittington has overseen the first successful scheme of arrangement for a Singapore-based insurance company, with the closure of Lion City Run-Off Private Ltd.

QBE launches European reinsurance operation; Insurance industry ready to respond, says Levene; Price Forbes hires former Endurance energy underwriter; Hampden lists on AIM despite falling short with IPO...

A trio of senior executives of Independent Insurance, which collapsed in 2001, have been attempting to shift the blame between themselves and to other members of staff, a court has heard.

The departure of a number of key producers that have followed divisional head of facilities Hugh Champion out the door of UK independent broker Heath Lambert which may scupper management’s chances of selling the firm as a single entity.

Who is the world's largest insurer - both in terms of market value and income - without a UK commercial insurance company?

Willis has lodged a High Court injunction to prevent rival Marsh UK using information it gained after allegedly poaching its employees.