September 2008/5

Property Claims Services (PCS) is due to publish an initial loss estimate for Hurricane Ike's onshore damage later this week - and the evidence is increasingly pointing to a $10bn+ loss.

Alice Schroeder's biography of Warren Buffett "The Snowball - Warren Buffet and the business of life" has gone on sale today (29 September) as the actions of its subject continue to dominate the headlines.

American International Group Inc (AIG) drew down $28bn from the $85bn US government bail-out loan facility before it announced it had signed the agreement last week.

Hank Greenberg, the former American International Group (AIG) chief executive, sold 40 million shares in the fallen insurer, netting around $126mn last week.

Western governments are continuing their rescue of financial institutions with the EUR11.2bn bail-out of Benelux banking and insurance giant Fortis yesterday and confirmation of the nationalisation of UK mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley (B&B).

Validus Holdings Ltd is in talks to buy Transatlantic Re from distressed insurance giant American International Group (AIG), The Insurance Insider understands.

American International Group Inc (AIG) expects to have a "for sale" list of assets drawn up by the end of this week (3 October), and may have executed transactions in that time frame, according to new chairman and CEO Edward Liddy.

Lloyd's posted an interim profit before tax of £949mn for the six month period ending 30 June 2008, a fall of 47 percent against 2007's record figure of £1.8bn.

Swiss Re has revealed lower-than-feared write-downs from its exposures to structured credit default swaps (CDS) as it posted mark-to-market losses of SFr245mn in July-August in its CDS portfolio and estimated further write-downs in September (up to the 19

AXIS Capital estimates that its net loss exposures to Hurricanes Gustav and Ike will be between $310-$430mn, adding to the industry's toll of heavy 2008 catastrophe losses and providing further evidence of the damage wreaked by Ike earlier this month.

Federal prosecutors in the case involving five former General Re and American International Group Inc (AIG) executives who were found guilty for their part in a sham reinsurance transaction are tying the deal to shareholder losses of $1.4bn.

London-based company market (re)insurance trade body, the International Underwriting Association (IUA) has welcomed proposals for a new reinsurance regulatory framework agreed by the reinsurance task force of the National Association of Insurance Commissi