Printed from BusinessInsurance.com

GLOBAL BRIEFS

Posted On: Oct. 5, 1997 12:00 AM CST

AXA-UAP of Paris merged its two London marine units last week. The insurer merged the marine operations of UAP IARD/La Reunion Francaise into AXA Global Risks (UK) Ltd. The combined operations will be based in the London Underwriting Centre. . . .Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A. is buying a 49% stake in three pension and insurance units of Mexican financial group Grupo Financiero Banorte. Generali will pay up to $159 million, depending on the units' future performance. The three units, which will be renamed, are: Solida Banorte Generali, an AFORE, or pension asset manager; Pensiones Banorte Generali, an annuity company; and Seguros Banorte Generali, a personal lines insurer. Generali will pay $84 million now and up to $75 million over 10 years. . . .The board of Trygg-Hansa A.B., one of Sweden's major insurers, last week recommended accepting a takeover offer from Stockholm bank Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken. Analysts last week said they expect S-E-Banken will retain Trygg-Hansa's life operations and put its non-life interests up for sale. . . .The British government last week replaced Taskforce 2000, formed to raise industry awareness of the millennium computer problem, with a new group, Action 2000. The government said Taskforce 2000 had achieved its aim and the new body will promote solutions to computer problems caused by the date change from 1999 to 2000. . . .The New European Insurance Ventures fund, a venture capital limited partnership comprising mainly Western insurers set up earlier this year to invest in insurance and related business in Central and Eastern Europe, has grown to $21.6 million. Under a co-investment program with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the EBRD will contribute an additional $7.2 million, raising the total investment funds to $28.8 million. . . .Lloyd's of London has announced that its eighth and final auction of syndicate capacity for the 1998 underwriting year resulted in 171 million pounds ($275.7 million) of market capacity involving 102 syndicates being auctioned at a total value of 8.5 million pounds . . . .London-based specialist insurer Hiscox Syndicates Ltd. has created an earthquake rating system for insurers and reinsurers. The Monica Seismic Rating System has been developed by Hiscox and the British Geological Survey to provide quake information for "secondary" zones, such as Italy, which are not covered by existing cat models. . . . Angerstein Transit Underwriting Agency Ltd. has formed an underwriting agency, Angerstein Transit, to write cargo, transit and related covers. The agency is a joint venture with Lloyd's syndicate 902 to service U.K.-based accounts not usually placed in the Lloyd's market. . . .ACE Ltd. has established a Dublin subsidiary to write insurance and reinsurance in Europe. ACE Insurance Co. Europe Ltd. will be headed by Mark Kealy, a former executive at Willis Corroon Group P.L.C.