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As reported by “Business Insurance”, former General Re Corp. Chief Financial Officer Elizabeth Monrad’s attorney on Monday accused a star government witness of lying in previous statements to prosecutors and regulators, aiming to raise doubts about whether Ms. Monrad expected American International Group Inc. (AIG) to account improperly for an allegedly fraudulent 2000 loss portfolio… Continue reading Lawyer in Gen Re Trial Questions Witness’ Veracity

Countrywide Financial Corp., the nation’s largest mortgage lender, swung to a fourth-quarter loss, as delinquencies continued to rise and the mortgage lender recorded more write-downs and set aside $924 million for credit losses.     Loan volumes were down sharply from the third quarter and the company said it expects volume to be down throughout… Continue reading Countrywide Posts Additional Write-Downs, Losses for Fourth Quarter

Members of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) met recently to discuss regulatory solutions to ensure the continued strength and stability of the financial guaranty insurance market.    “State insurance regulators are working together so that all states and municipalities will have continued access to highly rated financial guaranty insurers,” said NAIC President and… Continue reading NAIC Meets to Discuss Solutions in the Bond Market

Berkshire Hathaway in recent weeks announced its establishment of new bond company, obtaining licensing in New York initially. On Monday, a national group of state insurance commissioners stated that it was working towards getting the the new bond insurance group licensed in multiple states quickly. The National Assn. of Insurance Commissioners said it was working… Continue reading States Move Forward to Get Berkshire’s New Bond Group Licensed

French lawyer Frederik-Karel Canoy is representing 100 small shareholders who are suing French Societe Generale over the way it unbundled billions of dollars in allegedly fraudulent share deals earlier this week.    Mr. Canoy on Monday said the bank should have informed markets about its pending losses before embarking on a massive selling spree on… Continue reading French Societe Generale Sued by Shareholders

The issue of whether the federal government should step in and help insure homeowners in the hurricane-battered coast of Florida has taken center stage in the Sunshine State as the Republican primary nears.    Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who has seen his numbers fall in the polls, has put all his campaigning efforts… Continue reading Cat Plan in FL Takes Center Stage in Republican Primary, Giuliani in Favor

Today the Lloyd’s of London insurance market announced it was planning to reduce its underwriting capacity this year to 15.95 billion pounds ($31.6 billion), slightly lower than 2007’s record initial capacity of 16.1 billion. A number of Lloyd’s insurers, including Amlin, Hiscox, and Kiln have returned capital to shareholders and several others have said they… Continue reading Lloyd’s To Reduce Underwriting Capacity for ’08

OLDWICK, N.J. January 25 (BestWire) — A.M. Best Co. has downgraded the financial strength rating (FSR) to A (Excellent) from A+ (Superior) and the issuer credit ratings (ICR) to “a” from “aa-”of XL Capital Group (XL Capital) (Bermuda) and its members. Concurrently, A.M. Best has downgraded the ICR to “bbb” from “a-” and all existing… Continue reading A.M. Best Downgrades Ratings of XL Capital Ltd. and Its Subsidiaries

Wednesday’s House passage of H.R. 3959, which would require buyers of residential homes costing $600,000 or more to pay phased-in, actuarial flood insurance prices, is a positive step toward shoring up the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) without creating unanticipated premium increases, according to the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI). The bipartisan bill,… Continue reading PCI Applauds House Passage of Garrett-Frank Flood Bill

John Houldsworth, former CEO of Gen Re’s Cologne Re Dublin (CRD) subsidiary, testified for a second day on the Gen-Re – AIG trial on Thursday and stated that he pulled the $600 liability limit in an allegedly fraudulent loss portfolio deal “out of the air,” and that most the business ceded in the portfolio was… Continue reading Testimony from Former Gen Re CEO Continues