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Friday
3/28/2008
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Your Insurance News "Strategic
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1.
AIG Sues Greenberg And Six
Ex-Directors |
Thu Mar 27, 2008 3:43pm EDT - NEW YORK (Reuters)
- American International Group Inc (AIG.N: ), the world's
largest insurer, has filed a complaint in New York Supreme Court
against former Chief Executive Maurice "Hank" Greenberg and six
other former directors and officers, accusing them of breaching
their fiduciary duty.
The legal action marks another chapter in a complicated
three-year battle between the insurer and its former chief after
he left the company amid an accounting scandal.
In the complaint, filed on Wednesday, AIG alleges Greenberg,
former Chief Financial Officer Howard Smith and five others
breached their fiduciary duty through "misappropriation of a
special block of AIG shares worth approximately $20 billion in
2005."
The shares were held by Starr International Co Inc, a company
that had had close ties with AIG, owning a large block of shares
for the purpose of protecting the insurer against hostile
takeovers, and to fund compensation for current and future AIG
employees. Starr, which is now controlled by Greenberg, remains
a large AIG shareholder.
The suit is separate from an earlier action under which AIG is
effectively seeking to have all shares held by Starr
International that were allocated for future compensation of AIG
employees placed in a trust controlled by current AIG
executives.
A decision in that matter is pending, after Starr International
filed a request for summary judgment.
AIG, in the complaint this week, said defendants had a fiduciary
duty to preserve, protect and use the stock acquired by Starr
International for the benefit of AIG, and had breached that by
causing or participating in the removal of AIG managers from
Starr's board, and the cancellation of the future deferred
compensation for AIG, among others.
AIG spokesman Chris Winans said the insurer was forced to file
the new claims ahead of a three-year statute of limitation,
coinciding with the three-year anniversary of the commencement
of conduct giving rise to AIG's claim of breach of fiduciary
duty, in order to preserve its ability to take action against
the named individuals.
"We expect to be successful in dismissing this additional
meritless lawsuit by AIG involving Starr International," said
Glenn Rochkind, a spokesman for Starr International, who said he
had not spoken with all of the defendants.
He added that AIG's new lawsuit amounted to "forum shopping"
given it was filed in state court while the other matter is
outstanding in federal court.
"AIG shareholders would be better served by its management
focusing more attention on the business, improving the company's
lackluster performance, and bringing greater value to the
stock," Rochkind added.
AIG said it had no comment.
Greenberg, 83, has retained control of Starr International,
running the company as a private investment vehicle since his
departure from AIG in 2005. Starr's 9.7 percent stake in AIG
makes it the insurer's largest shareholder, according to current
Reuters data.
The complaint also names Edward Matthews, Ernest Stempel, L.
Michael Murphy, John Roberts and Houghton Freeman, all of whom
are either former officers of AIG companies or ex-directors, and
are voting stockholders of Starr International. Some remain
honorary directors of AIG.
Greenberg, who lives in New York, and Stempel, who lives in
Bermuda, are listed as billionaires in the Forbes 2007 list of
the world's richest individuals, with fortunes of $1.9 billion
and $1.3 billion, respectively.
Stempel, 91, reached at home in Bermuda, said he had not seen
the complaint and had no response.
Murphy, who also lives in Bermuda where he worked for AIG until
2005 and then Starr International, was not immediately available
for comment.
Smith, Matthews, Roberts and Freeman, all of whom reside in the
United States, could not immediately be contacted for comment.
AIG said it filed the new complaint after individual defendants
refused to sign an agreement that would have effectively waived
the three-year statute of limitation.
(Additional reporting by Edith Honan and Emily Chasan; editing
by John Wallace, Dave Zimmerman, Gary Hill)
© Reuters 2008 All rights reserved |
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2.
Fitch CDO Model Seen
Forcing Sales Of Thin Slices |
|
Thu Mar 27,
2008 12:40pm EDT
By Jane
Baird
LONDON,
March 27 (Reuters) - Fitch Ratings' proposal to change its ratings
methodology for corporate collateralised debt obligations (CDOs) is
likely to force sales of only thin slices of these deals, according to
analysts at Dresdner Kleinwort.
Fitch said
its plan would hit synthetic, investment-grade CDOs the hardest, leading
to an average downgrade of five notches for the $75 billion worth it
rates.
Fitch said
it aimed to ensure that its CDO ratings perform in a similar way to
company ratings, which have an established history and are well
understood. It said it would publish final details by March 31 after
getting feedback from the market. Dresdner analysts applied Fitch's
proposed new model to a sample CDO based on the seven-year CDX index of
125 U.S. investment-grade corporate names.
A synthetic
CDO is a portfolio of credit default swaps divided into tranches, or
slices, by degrees of risk.
The
riskiest and highest-yielding tranche is exposed to the first few
percent of default losses from any credit in the pool. After it has been
wiped out, losses then move to the next tranche. The tranches at the top
are rated triple-A.
Fitch made
the new model easy to understand and to apply, said Dresdner analyst
Domenico Picone. "I can understand the probabilities of default and
recovery rates."
The new
approach would effectively raise the required attachment points to
achieve ratings. That is the level losses in an overall portfolio have
to reach to start affecting a tranche.
(Editing by Sue Thomas)
© Reuters
2008 All rights reserved |
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3.
Investors Fear
Impact Of Fitch CDO Rating Overhaul |
|
Thu Mar 27,
2008 12:39pm EDT
By Jane
Baird
LONDON,
March 27 (Reuters) - Investors fear Fitch Ratings' proposal to overhaul
the way it rates corporate collateralised debt obligations (CDOs), due
in final form in days, could kick the credit derivatives market into
another tailspin.
Fitch
unveiled its proposal in early February, saying it would hit synthetic,
investment-grade CDOs the hardest, leading to an average downgrade of
five notches for the $75 billion worth it rates. The ratings agency said
it would publish final details by March 31 after getting feedback from
the market.
Analysts
are now struggling to come up with estimates of the potential volume of
forced unwinds that could slam the market. (Editing by Quentin Bryar)
© Reuters
2008 All rights reserved |
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|
4.
Lehman's Stock Drops
Amid Rumors |
|
Thu Mar 27,
2008 12:48pm EDT
NEW YORK
(Reuters) - Shares of Lehman Brothers (LEH.N: )
fell by nearly 10 percent in early New York trading on Thursday on
rumors that the fourth largest U.S. investment bank could see a run on
the bank similar to what happened to Bear Stearns (BSC.N: ), traders said.
Declines in
Lehman's shares on Thursday are "all being tied to fears of Bear
Stearns," said Robert Bolton, head trader for Mendon Capital Advisors in
Rochester, New York. "Does another broker dealer go the route of Bear
Stearns with regard to their solvency and the like."
A Lehman
spokeswoman called the rumors "totally unfounded," which contributed to
the stock taking back much of its losses.
Kerrie
Cohen, a spokeswoman for Lehman Brothers, said, "There are a lot of
rumors in the marketplace that are totally unfounded. We are suspicious
that the rumors are being promulgated by short sellers of our stock that
have an economic self interest."
(Reporting
by Paritosh Bansal and Dan Wilchins, additional reporting by Doris
Frankel in Chicago, Editing by Toni Reinhold)
© Reuters 2008 All rights reserved |
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5.
KPMG Allowed Fraud
At New Century, Report Says |
|
Thu Mar 27,
2008 8:01am EDT
SAN
FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Auditor KPMG KPMG.UL either initiated accounting
fraud at New Century Financial Corp (NEWCQ.PK: )
or stood idly by as the failed subprime mortgage lender committed fraud
in 2005 and 2006, an independent report requested by the U.S. Department
of Justice shows.
Once the
second-largest U.S. subprime lender, New Century filed for Chapter 11
bankruptcy protection last April 2, and was one of the first major
casualties of the current U.S. housing crisis, which has roiled global
financial markets. It had been one of the largest U.S. providers of home
loans to people with poor credit.
The
581-page report by court examiner Michael Missal concluded that New
Century "engaged in a number of significant improper and imprudent
practices related to its loan originations, operations, and financial
reporting."
KPMG
contributed to some of these accounting and financial errors "by
enabling them to persist and, in some instances, precipitating the
company's departures from applicable accounting standards," Missal
concluded.
New Century
officials were not available to comment on Wednesday.
"We
strongly disagree with the report's allegations," KPMG spokesman Dan
Ginsburg said in a phone interview. "We believe that an objective review
of the facts and circumstances will affirm our position."
More than
450 companies and individuals who have filed claims against the Irvine,
California-based New Century may be able to sue KPMG for professional
negligence based on KPMG's breach of its professional standard of care,
Missal wrote.
"In the
post-Enron era, one of the lessons should have been that accountants
need to be skeptical, strong, and independent," Missal told Reuters in a
phone interview. "You didn't have any of those attributes here."
(Reporting
by Amanda Beck, editing by Peter Henderson & Kim Coghill)
© Reuters
2008 All rights reserved |
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6.
Bear Seeks To Stop
Ex-Employees From Wooing Clients |
|
Wed Mar 26,
2008 7:49pm EDT
NEW YORK
(Reuters) - Bear Stearns Cos Inc (BSC.N: ) asked
a court on Wednesday for an injunction to prevent five former employees
from using Bear Stearns' client lists in their new jobs at other banks.
The request
for an injunction comes as Bear Stearns struggles to hang onto clients
after a run on the bank forced it earlier this month to agree to sell
itself to JPMorgan Chase for a fraction of its prior market value.
Bear
Stearns asked the New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan to force the
former employees to return client lists or papers they had taken from
the company and to prevent them from contacting Bear Stearns' clients
for the purpose of taking their business to their new employers, UBS AG
(UBSN.VX: ) and Morgan Stanley (MS.N: ).
Bear said
in its court filing that former employees who solicited its clients were
violating contractual obligations.
Bear asked
for a restraining order and a preliminary injunction as it prepares an
arbitration claim for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
(Reporting
by Emily Chasan, Dan Wilchins and Edith Honan; Editing by Toni Reinhold/
© Reuters
2008 All rights reserved |
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|
7.
Ex-CEO of National
Century Guilty Of Witness Tampering |
|
Wed Mar 26,
2008 6:59pm EDT
WASHINGTON
(Reuters) - A federal jury in Ohio convicted the former chief executive
of National Century Financial Enterprises of interfering with a witness
in a criminal fraud case involving the bankrupt company, the U.S.
Justice Department said on Wednesday.
Lance
Poulsen, the former head of the health-care finance company, was
convicted after a week-long jury trial along with his personal
associate, Karl Demmler, the department said in a statement.
The witness
tampering charge was linked to a key witness who was scheduled to
testify in the trial of Poulsen and other executives for an alleged $2
billion fraud at the National Century, the government said.
The
Columbus, Ohio jury convicted Poulsen and Demmler of trying to tamper
with the testimony of Sherry Gibson at the separate National Century
fraud trial, which ended earlier this month with the conviction of five
other company executives. Those five executives were found guilty of
scheming to deceive investors and credit rating agencies about the
financial health of National Century.
Poulsen
will be tried on fraud charges in August, the Justice Department said.
Poulsen and
Demmler each face up to 35 years for the witness tampering, conspiracy
and obstruction of justice convictions, the government said.
National
Century filed for bankruptcy in November 2002 after an auditor refused
to sign its financial statements and lenders stopped advancing funds.
The Ohio-based company was once a multibillion dollar business that
bought patients' bills from health-care providers and packaged them into
bonds for investors.
(Reporting
by Julie Vorman, editing by Richard Chang)
© Reuters
2008 All rights reserved |
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|
8.
Fitch: 2007 U.S. P&C
Insurance Results Solid, But Likely to Fall This Year |
|
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The U.S. property and casualty insurance
industry reported strong results in 2007 that nevertheless fell short of
the record net profits and underwriting performance of 2006, Fitch said
today.
For the second consecutive year, underwriting results benefited from
benign natural catastrophe activity and positive loss reserve
development that combined to partially offset the adverse impact of a
deteriorating insurance pricing environment.
While competitive factors are likely to promote further deterioration in
rates, Fitch expects insurers to post a more modest underwriting profit
in 2008. Fitch anticipates that insurers' overall profits will decline
in 2008, and that the industry will struggle to produce an adequate
return on capital, which Fitch estimates for most (re)insurers as a net
return on average equity of between 11%-12%.
To
access this special report, 'Property/Casualty Insurers Year-End 2007
Review', please visit
www.fitchratings.com under Financial Institutions -- Insurance --
Special Reports.
|
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|
9.
Excessive Auto and
Homeowners Insurance Regulations Cost Consumers $13.7 Billion Per Year,
According to ACI Findings |
|
WASHINGTON, March 27 /PRNewswire/ -- A new ConsumerGram released by the
American Consumer Institute (ACI) finds that consumers living in states
with high levels of insurance regulation pay hundreds of dollars more
per year than consumers living in states with less insurance regulation.
The American Consumer Institute is an independent educational and
research institute. For more information about the Institute, visit
http://www.theamericanconsumer.org. |
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|
10.
Rich
Clients' Assets To Hit $75 Trillion By 2012: Study |
|
Thu Mar 27,
2008 6:16am EDT
LONDON
(Reuters) - Wealth held by rich investors with assets over $1 million is
set to grow 50 percent in the next five years to $75 trillion, according
to a report published on Thursday.
The study
by management consultancy Oliver Wyman found that the annual growth rate
of wealth held by high net worth individuals is expected to slow to nine
percent in the next five years as tougher market environment bites.
Global
wealth held by rich clients grew by an annual 12 percent over the past
five years to 2007 to $50 trillion thanks to a bull run in stock
markets.
Oliver
Wyman is part of insurance broker Marsh & McLennan.
(Reporting
by Natsuko Waki; editing by Stephen Nisbet)
© Reuters
2008 All rights reserved |
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|
11.
FGIC Says Mortgage
Losses Exceed Legal Limits |
|
Thu Mar 27,
2008 3:04am EDT
NEW YORK
(Reuters) - Bond insurer FGIC Corp said on Wednesday that its exposure
to mortgage losses exceeded legal risk limits and it may adjust its loss
reserves due to litigation related to stricken German bank IKB.
FGIC, the
parent of bond insurer Financial Guaranty Insurance Co, earlier this
month sued German state-owned IKB (IKBG.DE: ) on
fraud charges of providing incomplete information on $1.9 billion of
debt that FGIC agreed to insure.
FGIC in a
statement also said it has a substantially reduced capital and surplus
position through Dec. 31. As a result, insured exposures exceeded risk
limits required by New York state insurance law, the New York-based
company said.
"This is a
bombshell," said Rob Haines, senior insurance analyst at CreditSights in
New York. "They are actually in violation of New York insurance law. If
they don't remediate this, the state has the ability to take control of
the company."
Haines
estimated that FGIC would need to raise about $2 billion to stabilize
the company.
© Reuters
2008 All rights reserved |
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|
12.
Willis On Track To
Grow Profit 40 Pct By 2010 |
|
NEW YORK
(Reuters) - Willis Group Holdings (WSH.N: ), the
world's third-largest insurance brokerage, is on track to increase its
earnings by more than 40 percent through 2010, Chief Executive Joseph
Plumeri told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday.
Plumeri
said he would like to see Willis climb out of its No. 3 spot behind
larger insurance brokers Marsh & McLennan (MMC.N: ) and Aon Corp (AOC.N: ) by the time his
current contract ends in three years, but not at the expense of
profitability.
"I am going
to do everything I can to enhance our worldwide position but I am not
going to do it at the expense of our margins," he said. "I am not going
to go chase size to sacrifice profitability."
Media
reports last year raised the possibility that Willis was teeing up for
an acquisition of Marsh & McLennan after it suffered a series of legal,
regulatory and financial setbacks. MMC has since undertaken a management
shake-up, hiring former Ace Limited (ACE.N: )
chairman Brian Duperreault as chief executive, as well as replacing the
head of its main operating unit, Marsh Inc.
Plumeri
declined to comment on any interest, present or past, in Marsh. And he
said he had "no interest" in acquiring British reinsurance broker
Benfield (BFD.L: ). The latter has said in the
past that it had been approached by major rivals.
Plumeri
said that during his 7-year tenure the company has made only one
significant acquisition, Irish broker Coyle Hamilton in 2004.
"Organically is the way we have done it," he said.
But "if we
find acquisitions that make sense we certainly are going to take a look
at them," he added.
(Editing by
Gary Hill)
© Reuters 2008 All rights reserved |
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|
13.
NYMAGIC, INC. Announces
the Acquisition of a Book of Professional Liability Insurance Business
Covering Insurance Agents, Brokers and Related Professionals |
|
NEW
YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--NYMAGIC, INC. (NYSE: NYM) announced today that it
has acquired a book of professional liability insurance covering
insurance agents, brokers and related professionals. The Company
purchased this book of business through its subsidiary, Mutual Marine
Office, Inc. (“MMO”) from Excel Underwriters Alliance, Inc. (Excel),
effective March 1, 2008. |
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|
14.
USAA Members in
Massachusetts Start Seeing Auto Insurance Rate Reductions – 15% on
Average |
|
SAN ANTONIO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Massachusetts drivers are now benefiting
from the kind of insurance regulatory reform USAA has supported for many
years. USAA members will start seeing auto insurance rate reductions –
an average of 15 percent – as the first wave of auto insurance policies
begins to renew this month. The reductions are the direct result of
efforts by the Massachusetts Division of Insurance to improve the
state’s regulatory environment. The regulatory change went into effect
last year to allow private insurers to set their own rates for the first
time in nearly 30 years. |
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|
15.
RMS unveils first
Commercial fire risk probability model to the market |
|
Newark, Calif. – 27 March 2008 – Risk Management
Solutions (RMS) today announced the launch of the first ever
probabilistic model to enhance the way account underwriters quantify and
manage exposure to fire risk. Aimed at primary commercial and specialty
insurers and reinsurers, the RMS® Account Fire Model provides an
explicit link between engineering best practices and the account
underwriting process, and supplies comprehensive data at the account
level, which has been unavailable until now.
www.rms.com. |
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|
16.
SEC Official Says
More Subprime Fraud Could Surface |
|
Thu Mar 27,
2008 3:03am EDT
WASHINGTON
(Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's top
enforcement official said on Wednesday that it's still too early to tell
whether the current market turmoil involves widespread securities
violations or simply bad business decisions.
SEC
enforcement director Linda Thomsen also said more fraudulent activity
tied to the subprime mortgage crisis might emerge as financial players
grapple with a tough business environment.
"Once
things start going south, people start behaving badly," Thomsen said at
a U.S. Chamber of Commerce event on capital markets competitiveness.
"People try
to cover up what they're finding and justifying things in their own
minds."
Thomsen
said the SEC has about three dozen subprime-related investigations open
that involve a broad spectrum of financial players.
(Reporting
by Karey Wutkowski; editing by Carol Bishopric)
© Reuters
2008 All rights reserved |
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|
17.
Investors Have
Another Worry: Fed Intervention |
|
Thu Mar 27,
2008 7:58am EDT
PHILADELPHIA/NEW
YORK (Reuters) - Investors in U.S. financial institutions have another
risk factor to worry about -- intervention by the Federal Reserve.
While
observers say the United States isn't approaching Russian standards yet,
JPMorgan Chase & Co's (JPM.N: ) planned takeover
of Bear Stearns (BSC.N: ) at $10 a share -- with
Bear shareholders having little to say about it -- is a dissuader
against investing in similar stocks.
"It's
another of those watershed events which makes it clear to shareholders
that their power is very limited," said Duke University Law School
Professor James Cox. "It's somewhat fanciful, but it's also farcical, to
have the perspective that shareholders have any sort of meaningful
rights when the board of directors decides what to do."
JPMorgan
side-stepped many customary merger practices in its revised offer for
Bear Stearns, and the deal pushes the limit on some merger laws,
according to some investment bankers and merger attorneys.
(Additional reporting by Paritosh Bansal; editing by John Wallace)
(For more
M&A news and our DealZone blog, go to here)
© Reuters
2008 All rights reserved |
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18.
INSURANCE NEWSCAST "Pictures Of The Day" -- Sponsored By:
|
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Shuttle Endeavour returns to Earth. The
space shuttle Endeavour lands at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape
Canaveral, Florida March 26, 2008. REUTERS/Pierre Ducharme
Read Entire
Story!!! |
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Hot air balloons fly during the
celebrations of "Sri Lanka Balloon Festival 2008" at Tissamaharama, in
Hambantota, about 238 kilometers (148 miles) south of Colombo March 26,
2008. About 70 participants from European nations and Japan joined the
festival which runs from from March 26 to April 4. REUTERS/Buddhika
Weerasinghe |
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A calf released by protesting farmers carries a placard reading
"Meat going broke, Milk going down, Who will take care of me?" during a
farmers protest in Oviedo, northern Spain, March 26, 2008. Farmers in
the northern Spanish region of Asturias protested near the regional
goverment headquarters over what they claim is reduced income received
from the sale of milk. REUTERS/Eloy Alonso |
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A man looks for waste to recycle at
a new municipal garbage dump at the old center of Managua, Nicaragua,
damaged by a 1972 earthquake, March 26, 2008. Hundreds of freelance
garbage recyclers are not allowing municipal garbage collection trucks
into the dump in a dispute over who gets to recycle salvageable
materials. The municipal garbage collectors began keeping salvageable
materials to themselves instead of simply delivering the rubbish to the
dump, where whole families live off recycling plastic bottles, cardboard
and scrap metal. REUTERS/Oswaldo Rivas |
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Cherry blossoms begin to bloom near
the Washington Monument in Washington on March 27, 2008. REUTERS/Yuri
Gripas (UNITED STATES) |
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A worker walks near old ships that
are being recycled at a ship demolition site in Jakarta March 27, 2008.
REUTERS/Beawiharta (INDONESIA) |
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From top, Britain's Prince Charles,
French first lady Carla Bruni, Prince Philip, and French Justice
minister Rachida Dati listen to Britain's Queen Elizabeth as she
delivers a speech at the start of a state banquet with French President
Nicolas Sarkozy (not pictured) at Windsor Castle in Windsor March 26,
2008. Picture taken Mach 26, 2008. REUTERS/Christophe Ena/Pool (BRITAIN) |
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French President Nicolas Sarkozy
(L), poses with Britain's Prime Minster Gordon Brown (R) and Arsenal
manager Arsene Wenger at the Emirates Stadium in London March 27, 2008.
Sarkozy and Brown called on Thursday, on the second day of a state
visit, for banks to declare the full extent of the damage to their
operations caused by the credit crunch. REUTERS/John Stillwell/Pool
(BRITAIN) |
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A cargo vessel is seen after it
collided with a part of the lower span of the incomplete Jintang Bridge
in Ningbo, Zhejiang province March 27, 2008. China's maritime search and
rescue authority said on Thursday that an empty cargo vessel hit a
bridge under construction near the eastern seaport of Ningbo, Zhejiang
Province, leaving four crew members missing, Xinhua News Agency
reported. REUTERS/Stringer (CHINA). CHINA OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR
EDITORIAL SALES IN CHINA. |
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Saudi men perform a traditional folk
dance to inaugurate the tourism season in Asir March 27, 2008. REUTERS/Fahad
Shadeed (SAUDI ARABIA) |
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