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Changes
Willis Re is reorganizing its global broking activities. As part of the plan, the international and specialty network will combine into a single unit, and the US and Bermudian operations will comprise a new North America group. James Kent has been..
Online Published Date:
30 October 2009
Appeared in issue:
217 - 01 October 2009
IRS confirms view on reinsurance for tax
Two favourable pieces of tax news from the US to report.
Firstly, the federal US tax authority, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), last month issued a ruling confirming the market’s longstanding view on when a reinsurance contract constitutes..
Online Published Date:
30 October 2009
Appeared in issue:
217 - 01 October 2009
TigerRisk takes investment from Aquiline
Aquiline Capital, the private equity company headed by ceo Jeff Greenberg, has invested in TigerRisk Partners, the independent brokerage formed by Jim Stanard, formerly of RenaissanceRe, and Rod Fox, formerly of Benfield in the US. The firm provides..
Online Published Date:
30 October 2009
Appeared in issue:
217 - 01 October 2009
Index cover needs boost to go to next stage
Insurance products linked to indices can bring great benefits at both the local and national/multinational level in poorer countries, but the concept needs careful development if it is to achieve its full potential.
This is the view of the..
Online Published Date:
30 October 2009
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217 - 01 October 2009
Indemnity derivative hits Q3 figures at Axis
Bermudian reinsurance group Axis warned ahead of publication of its third quarter results that it expected to show a $136m increase in the fair value liability of an indemnity derivative contract exposed to longevity risk. Axis said the underlying..
Online Published Date:
30 October 2009
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217 - 01 October 2009
OECD details developments on tax agreements
The Cayman Islands is one of 12 jurisdictions that has entered into enough tax agreements over the last few months to be eligible for inclusion on the white list of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD).
Countries are..
Online Published Date:
30 October 2009
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217 - 01 October 2009
Market escapes mega fire loss in California
The Californian Station wildfire was a near miss for the insurance industry and could easily have proved a much more expensive loss. Abnormally low windspeeds in the affected areas prevented the fires from becoming a multi-billion dollar insurance..
Online Published Date:
30 October 2009
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217 - 01 October 2009
Life securitizations trigger regulatory worries
Are life insurance securitizations a profitable new area of investment or another financial disaster in the making? Rating agencies and insurance regulators have voiced their concerns about the reported interest in securitization of individual life..
Online Published Date:
30 October 2009
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217 - 01 October 2009
American Safety opens captive in Vermont
ART company American Safety Insurance (ASI) has formed a captive in Vermont to complement the activities of the captive operation in Bermuda owned by the group holding company.
Both captives are segregated cell facilities, so the collateral or..
Online Published Date:
30 October 2009
Appeared in issue:
217 - 01 October 2009
Pooling could help RRGs access more capital
Risk retention groups (RRGs) in the US could represent an attractive opportunity for investors and they should investigate the possibility of forming capital pools to promote development. This was the message Tal Piccione, chairman & ceo of..
Online Published Date:
30 October 2009
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217 - 01 October 2009
Cat market needs greater funding than before
Of all the non-life sectors, catastrophe reinsurance has probably had most to digest from the events of the past 18 months. Thankfully the industry was spared a true mega-cat, Hurricane Ike notwithstanding, as the financial markets entered freefall..
Online Published Date:
30 October 2009
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217 - 01 October 2009
Marlborough forms property unit at syndicate
Flagstone subsidiary Marlborough Underwriting Agency, owned by Bermuda’s Flagstone, has recruited a team to write a worldwide property account, initially as part of syndicate 1861. For the 2010 year of account, Marlborough plans to form a new..
Online Published Date:
30 October 2009
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217 - 01 October 2009
Crisis highlights misunderstandings on SPEs
Special purpose entities (SPE), more commonly known as special purpose vehicles in the insurance market, came under stress during last year’s financial crisis, exposing “serious deficiencies in the understanding and risk..
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30 October 2009
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217 - 01 October 2009
Kingsway readies sale of Zephyr cat specialist
Canadian financial group Kingsway has agreed to sell Hawaiian property cat primary insurer Zephyr Insurance to Hawaiian investor group MP Holdings and Ocean Harbor Holding, based in Florida, for $31.5m plus a contingent amount based on future..
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30 October 2009
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217 - 01 October 2009
Typhoon Melor tires before Japanese landfall
Japan appears to have escaped this month with relatively minor damage from Typhoon Melor, at one point a Category 5 super typhoon but only a weak Category 1 when it made landfall in the Mie prefecture of southern Japan on October 7. The storm then..
Online Published Date:
30 October 2009
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217 - 01 October 2009
Fonden securitizes again
The Mexican government has bought further securitized protection to guard against catastrophic loss in a cat bond deal arranged by the World Bank and involving Swiss Re as reinsurer.
State agency Fonden, the Mexican Fund for Natural Disasters, has..
Online Published Date:
30 October 2009
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217 - 01 October 2009
Australia backs terror plan for another term
The Australian treasury has recommended that the country’s terrorism insurance mechanism remains in place for at least another three years, subject to several refinements that include consideration of further use of retrocession..
Online Published Date:
30 October 2009
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217 - 01 October 2009
Bermuda expands on SPIs to kickstart sector
The Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) has issued a guidance note and related information bulletin on special purpose insurers (SPIs), outlining the regulator’s supervisory approach for such vehicles, in an attempt to challenge the dominance of..
Online Published Date:
30 October 2009
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217 - 01 October 2009
ILS market heads for bumper final quarter
Only two cat bond deals closed during the third quarter of the year but conditions remain favourable for an upturn in activity during the last three months of 2009, according to GC Securities in its latest bulletin on the market. The firm believes..
Online Published Date:
30 October 2009
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217 - 01 October 2009
Irish market grows despite financial crisis
Members of the Dublin International Insurance & Management Association (DIMA) wrote gross premiums of €26.2bn and net premiums of €21.7bn last year, according to the trade body. The totals compared with gross and net figures of..
Online Published Date:
30 October 2009
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217 - 01 October 2009
Bermuda’s IAS becomes part of Marsh
Global broking and risk management group Marsh has acquired International Advisory Services (IAS), a Bermudian manager of captive and third party insurance companies, for an undisclosed sum. David Ezekiel, founder & ceo of IAS, and David..
Online Published Date:
30 October 2009
Appeared in issue:
217 - 01 October 2009