March 2009/1

Fitch Ratings has upgraded the class B notes of Fremantle – Brit Insurance’s three-year catastrophe swap deal – as the likelihood of a loss is diminishing with the risk period movin

(Re)insurance broker Willis Group has developed a parametric index for offshore Gulf of Mexico (GOM) energy exposures, which it hopes will help halt the shrinking of the pool of capacity for the peri

The closure of SCOR’s $200mn Atlas V cat bond in February marked the end of an issuance drought, opening the pipeline for two more deals that closed in early March. Atlas V – which provi

Liberty Mutual has completed its third Mystic Re series cat bond – a $225mn US wind and quake transaction – taking 2009 insurance-linked securities (ILS) issuance to $575mn. The size of t

Contingent capital, pre-event bond issuance and private reinsurance products are emerging as the favoured solutions for funding the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund’s (FHCF) potential $21bn c

Hannover Re has finally closed its $200mn sidecar, Kepler Re, three months ahead of its scheduled maturity, after shelving the renewal of the vehicle earlier this year due to market conditions. Hanno

Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has withdrawn its ratings on three bank loans issued by Emerson Re – the $500mn all-debt sidecar vehicle set up by Citadel’s CIG Re and New Castle Re in 2007

Cat bond structurers are exploring alternative European jurisdictions for special purpose reinsurance vehicle (SPRV) incorporation, after the Irish regulator forced two re-writes of the Atlas V trans

US insurer Chubb completed its $150mn East Lane Re III Florida wind indemnity cat bond earlier this month, demonstrating that the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market is open once again. Goldman

PERILS – the Swiss firm established to develop the much-anticipated European industry loss index – is targeting medium-sized and regional insurers in order to gather sufficient market dat

Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has extended the maturity date of excess liability company Oil Casualty Insurance’s indemnity-triggered casualty cat bond, Avalon Re, by a further t

Moody’s Investors Service has put $67.5mn of the notes on Glacier Re’s $180mn Nelson Re cat bond on review for a possible downgrade after the (re)insurer significantly upped its Hurricane