Amlin warns on strict new rules February 13, 2011 THE CHIEF executive of Amlin, the Lloyd’s of London insurer, has warned he could move the firm overseas if regulations set to be introduced in 2013 are too aggressive. Charles Philipps said any attempts by UK regulators to aggressively enforce strict European Solvency II capital requirements could force Amlin to relocate. In an interview with the [...]
Project Merlin has to avoid mistakes of past February 13, 2011 LAST week, George Osborne announced to the House of Commons that the four largest UK banks – HSBC, Barclays, RBS and Lloyds – have finally signed up to what has been dubbed project Merlin. There is no doubt this agreement is good news if it starts to rebuild the banks’ relationship with the government and [...]
Catlin shakes off cat loss February 10, 2011 LLOYD’S insurer Catlin returned solid full-year results yesterday despite taking a $218m (£136m) hit from catastrophe-related losses. Catlin saw pre-tax profit fall by a third to $406m from $603m last year, but beat analysts’ forecasts of $382m. Underwriting profits grew five per cent to $683m, as it added ten per cent to the net premiums [...]
Merlin claims to boost lending to businesses February 9, 2011 HOUSTON, we have an agreement.” So joked one of the chancellor’s key allies yesterday, clearly relieved to have finally signed a deal of sorts with the four Merlin banks. But the government has got precious little for the weeks it has spent locked in negotiations with HSBC, RBS, Lloyds and Barclays. Here City A.M. looks [...]
Hands bids for insurer Chaucer February 7, 2011 GUY Hands, founder of private equity firm Terra Firma, is in takeover talks with Lloyd’s insurer Chaucer Holdings, sources close to the situation confirmed to City A.M. yesterday. Hands, who was forced to surrender control of record company EMI to its creditor Citigroup last week due to its debt mountain, has approached Chaucer with a [...]
Hunger for mining shares sees FTSE stay above 6,000 level February 7, 2011 MINERS lifted Britain’s top share index higher yesterday, driven by record metal prices and results from Randgold. The FTSE 100 closed 53.65 points, or 0.9 per cent, firmer at 6,051.03, its highest finish since 18 January and marking the fourth gain in the past five trading days. “A fresh year high is being eyed with [...]
Keeping it thin and funky in smart Chelsea February 3, 2011 ONE way to really be the envy of your neighbours is to live in a house that’s fundamentally much more stylish, fun and unusual than theirs. That’s one thing you could be sure of if you lived in the Studio House on Edith Grove in Chelsea. Almost certainly, any guests turning up at the Victorian [...]
Towergate in £200m injection January 31, 2011 ADVENT International has agreed to invest £200m in insurance intermediary Towergate Partnership. Advent, a global private equity firm, will acquire separate shareholdings in both Towergate and Cullum Capital Ventures as part of the deal. The deal, conditional upon Towergate raising new debt facilities through the bank and bond markets, is expected to be completed in [...]
Australia flood costs to soar January 27, 2011 LOSSES from the floods devastating Australia to the Lloyd’s of London market may run to hundreds of millions of Australian dollars, its chairman Lord Levene said yesterday. Asked alongside Davos meetings to estimate the cost of the disaster, Levene said it could leave Lloyd’s underwriters with net losses, but said Lloyd’s’ total bill would not [...]
Levene says Solvency II to cost Lloyd’s £300m January 26, 2011 THE Lloyd’s of London insurance market expects to pay £300m to implement stringent new capital requirement rules for insurers, its chairman Lord Levene (pictured) said yesterday. Levene criticised the additional burden placed on insurers by the Solvency II rules, imposed by European lawmakers to require insurers to hold more capital to cover the risks they [...]