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Validus floats at lower end of price range
Bermuda’s Validus Holdings raised net proceeds of about $314m from its initial public offering of 15.2m common shares last month. The company said it would use the proceeds to repay debt and to pay accrued interest under its unsecured..
Online Published Date:
01 August 2007
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191 - 01 August 2007
Changes
Guy Carpenter
has named Laurent Dignon as leader of the European capital markets team and Eric Paire as leader of the broker’s European solutions group. Both will report to David Priebe, head of global specialty operations.
Mr Dignat’s..
Online Published Date:
01 August 2007
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191 - 01 August 2007
Hannover Re’s Irish financial reinsurance companies 2006
We covered Hannover Re’s overall financial reinsurance activities in AIC 189
and now take a more detailed look at the three Irish subsidiaries that transact this class of business.
Tables 1 and 2 shows the aggregated figures for Hannover Re..
Online Published Date:
01 August 2007
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191 - 01 August 2007
CEA revamps reinsurance protection once again
Yet another revision to the reinsurance programme for the California Earthquake Authority (CEA) means the facility is now likely to have about $2.3bn in protection next year through a new, single programme that provides cover for both base..
Online Published Date:
01 August 2007
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191 - 01 August 2007
News in brief
New RMS platform should add to certainty
Cat modeller Risk Management Solutions has launched a new reinsurance platform that it claims will help insurers, reinsurers and others “reduce uncertainty in modelled losses, build a deeper..
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01 August 2007
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191 - 01 August 2007
Onshore option appears more attractive to US
US corporates are looking increasingly to onshore captive domiciles as an alternative to Bermuda and other offshore locations, according to Aon’s Global 1500 report on the captive sector.
Aon said its report indicated that the gap between..
Online Published Date:
01 August 2007
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191 - 01 August 2007
Market digests natural cat Congress proposals
Coping with natural catastrophes continues to exercise the minds of the public, insurers and politicians in the US. Various legislative proposals are on the table, the most worrying for the insurance market being HR 3121, a bill that would expand..
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01 August 2007
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191 - 01 August 2007
Labuan market reports on strong 2006 growth
Labuan’s International Offshore Financial Centre is now home to over 300 financial institutions, including several captive, reinsurance and broking entities.
In its annual report, the Labuan Offshore Financial Services Authority (LOFSA)..
Online Published Date:
01 August 2007
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191 - 01 August 2007
Citizens completes two capital market deals
Florida’s residual market insurer Citizens Property has $9.4bn in readily available cash to cover hurricane losses this year, having concluded two financial market transactions that provide an extra $1.95bn in claims-paying..
Online Published Date:
01 August 2007
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191 - 01 August 2007
Florida Cat Fund eyes loan not reinsurance
The Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund is contemplating borrowing between $3bn and $7bn to cover at least part of the additional exposure the entity has taken on as a result of radical legislative changes that became effective earlier this..
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01 August 2007
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191 - 01 August 2007
FASB prepares risk transfer guidance
Staff at the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) in the US plan to recommend editorial changes to the wording of FASB 113,“Accounting and reporting for reinsurance of short-duration and long-duration contracts”, to clarify the..
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01 August 2007
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191 - 01 August 2007
Marsh prepares Nordic expansion
Marsh has recruited Lars Andersen from Aon to run a new captive insurance management and advisory facility in Copenhagen. The group plans to expand its Nordic regional captive operations beyond Copenhagen and expects to start with the opening of a..
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01 August 2007
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191 - 01 August 2007
Willis changes Singapore captive name
Willis has renamed its captive management company in Singapore, previously known as Richard Oliver International Pte, as Willis Management (Singapore) Pte. The head of the Singapore operation is George Ong.
Globally, Willis manages over 270 captives..
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01 August 2007
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191 - 01 August 2007
Reporting and related requirements
A number of measures taken by other supervisors may perhaps be effectively implemented by the authority. The authority may introduce its own practices to supplement these measures. A blended approach may include:
a) require risk transfer assessment..
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01 August 2007
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191 - 01 August 2007
Ariel readies Atrium move for Lloyd’s access
Lloyd’s is now the first port of call for Bermudian companies looking to diversify their operations away from heavy concentration on property catastrophe reinsurance, with Ariel Re’s proposed £193.2m cash offering for Atrium..
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01 August 2007
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191 - 01 August 2007
Argo completes launch and appoints Carrier
US insurance group Argonaut has completed its merger with Bermuda’s PXRE to create Argo Group International Holdings. The group’s insurance subsidiaries are Peleus Re, based in Bermuda, and Argonaut’s US operations. Of the..
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01 August 2007
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191 - 01 August 2007
Risk transfer and accounting treatment
The IAIS have issued a number of recommendations to supervisors concerning the regulation of finite reinsurance in three areas that Bermuda may adopt to enhance its oversight. These are 1) insurance risk transfer, 2) life reinsurance risk transfer,..
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01 August 2007
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191 - 01 August 2007
Rating concerns study securitization impact
Two leading rating agencies, Moody’s and Fitch, recently issued papers on how they view risk securitization transactions.
The Moody’s report looks at life securitizations, and forecasts growth in the overall use of insurance-linked notes..
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01 August 2007
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191 - 01 August 2007
Bermuda asks for views on finite risk regime
The Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) is another regulator planning to issue new finite rules and looking for market feedback on its approach. It’s fair to say the BMA is less interested than the Rialtóir Airgeadais in ploughing its own..
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01 August 2007
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191 - 01 August 2007
Irish regulator sketches out approach to finite
Inquiries by Eliot Spitzer, when attorney general of New York, the US Securities & Exchange Commission and others have placed finite reinsurance under such a cloud that some have predicted the demise of the market. That has not prevented..
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01 August 2007
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191 - 01 August 2007
Clean second year helps Avalon on rating
Rating agency Fitch has upgraded the long-term credit rating of the Class A notes of Avalon Re to BB+ from BB- and affirmed the rating of the Class B and C notes. Avalon Re is the special purpose vehicle that protects Oil Casualty Insurance Ltd..
Online Published Date:
01 August 2007
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191 - 01 August 2007
Farmers arranges contingent finance for cats
Zurich Financial Services subsidiary Farmers is the latest company to choose a contingent capital arrangement rather than a cat bond when supplementing its protection against extreme catastrophic loss. Under the agreement, Farmers will be able to..
Online Published Date:
01 August 2007
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191 - 01 August 2007
Protective Life is latest to securitize Triple-X
US life insurance group Protective has turned to the capital markets to securitize an increase in gross statutory reserves that the firm must hold in accordance with Triple-X regulations.
Under the securitization, special purpose vehicle Golden Gate..
Online Published Date:
01 August 2007
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191 - 01 August 2007
Cat bonds dominate non-life securitization list
With this year’s North Atlantic storm season now at its height, it seems an appropriate time to list the non-life risk securitization transactions that we have identified in 2007.
We have split the list into three. The first table shows..
Online Published Date:
01 August 2007
Appeared in issue:
191 - 01 August 2007
No end to probe fallout
Those who thought regulatory probes into potential misuse of ART contracts would die once Eliot Spitzer had moved on from the attorney general’s post in New York will be disappointed by recent events. The probe is still alive – in the US..
Online Published Date:
01 August 2007
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191 - 01 August 2007