September 2010/3

AmTrust Europe - the UK insurance company that rebranded from being IGI earlier this year - has unexpectedly parted company with its CEO Keith Wardell.

Former SVB CEO Rupert Villers has signalled his intention to step down as CEO of Aspen's insurance business after just nine months in the role, The Insurance Insider has learnt.

Quoted Lloyd's carrier Omega Insurance Holdings received a twin boost with the news that company chairman John Coldman has invested £1mn in the company while AM Best has lifted its negative watch

Lloyd's and international (re)insurer Hiscox plc is scaling back its US operations in the face of difficult market conditions by selling its bloodstock business and withdrawing from inland marine.

Scor is in the advanced stages of an application to launch a Lloyd's syndicate for a 2011 start, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

£69mn of capacity was traded at the second round of the Lloyd's 2010 syndicate auction.

Lloyd's underwriting profits will be thin on the ground for the first half of the year - but this has done little to deter the queue of potential arrivals at the 300-year-old market.

Aon Benfield's facultative electronic trading portal FAConnect has been integrated with the Lloyd's Exchange, allowing users to transmit messages directly to syndicates.

Malcolm Payton, head of global property facultative reinsurance at JLT Re, is joining GCFac, although details of his new role are yet to emerge.

Chartis leads the Jardine Lloyd Thompson-placed cover for the ATR-42 turboprop that crashed in Venezuela last week, The Insurance Insider understands.

The US energy casualty market is facing maximum insured losses of up to $1bn from a gas pipeline explosion earlier this month in a neighbourhood near San Francisco.

Cat bond investors are lining up to buy the first pure European wind bond of the season - French insurer Groupama's EUR100mn Green Valley II offer.