Printed from BusinessInsurance.com

In Brief

Posted On: Jan. 28, 2007 12:00 AM CST

New Aon Global unit to serve large clients

Aon Corp. has formed an entity, Aon Global, to consolidate several of its global business units. The Chicago-based unit comprises Aon's former Global Large Corporate business unit, Captives Services Group, International Risk Management Group, the Risk Consulting and Risk Engineering business units, among others. Dennis Mahoney, chairman and chief executive of Aon Ltd. in London, will assume the role of chairman of Aon Global and relocate to Bermuda.

Barrette again CEO of White Mountains

Raymond Barrette has been named chairman and chief executive officer of White Mountains Insurance Group Ltd. Mr. Barrette succeeds Steven E. Fass as CEO of White Mountains and industry veteran Jack Byrne as chairman of the company's board. Mr. Fass, who is retiring from active management, will continue as an adviser and member of the company's board. Mr. Byrne is retiring from the board. Mr. Barrette, currently a director, is a previous CEO of the insurer and reinsurer.

Wal-Mart pays $33M for overtime violations

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has agreed to pay more than $33 million in back wages, plus a still-undetermined amount of interest, owed as overtime pay to about 87,000 employees nationwide, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. A consent judgment ordering the retailer to pay the back wages, which also orders Wal-Mart to correct its practices, was filed last week with the U.S. District Court in Fort Smith, Ark., said Steven Mandel, associate solicitor in the Labor Department's Fair Labor Standards division.

UnumProvident to sell GENEX

UnumProvident Corp. is selling its workers compensation and medical cost containment services provider subsidiary GENEX Services Inc. to a global private equity firm for an undisclosed sum. Though terms of the transaction involving Trident IV L.P., a fund managed by Stone Point Capital L.L.C. in Greenwich, Conn., were not disclosed, UnumProvident said it will result in a "small net gain" for the Chattanooga, Tenn.-based disability insurer. The sale is expected to close in the first half of this year.

Broadspire names Replogle as CEO

Dennis Replogle will once again lead Broadspire Services Inc., the third-party administrator announced. Mr. Replogle--who served as president and chief executive officer of Plantation, Fla.-based Broadspire prior to its sale to parent Crawford & Co. of Atlanta in October 2006--succeeds former CEO Robert R. Kulbick, who resigned from the company last week. Mr. Kulbick's resignation comes less than three months after his appointment to CEO of the unit, which coincided with the Broadspire-Crawford merger.

Swiss Re finalizes GE Reinsurance integration

Swiss Reinsurance Co. last week finalized and received regulatory approval for the integration of GE Reinsurance Corp. into its Armonk, N.Y.-based Swiss Reinsurance America Corp. unit. For cedents who had their coverage formerly provided by the GE Reinsurance, all past claims obligations are being transferred to Swiss Reinsurance America Corp. In addition, all renewal business will be written, or quickly moved, to Swiss Reinsurance America Corp. paper, according to Swiss Re.

House group revives genetic discrimination bill

A bipartisan group of members of the U.S. House of Representatives has reintroduced legislation that would ban discrimination based solely on a person's genetic predisposition to specific illnesses. The measure would make it illegal for group health plans and health insurers to deny coverage to otherwise healthy individuals--or to charge those people higher health insurance premiums--solely because of genetic predisposition to a specific disease. The legislation also would prohibit employers from using individuals' genetic information when making hiring, firing, job placement or promotion decisions.

Willis names Margrett head of U.K. unit

Willis Group Holdings Ltd. said David Margrett, chief executive officer of the broker's Global Specialities unit, will take on the additional roles of chairman and CEO of U.K. unit Willis Ltd. upon the retirement of Richard Bucknall at the end of March. Mr. Bucknall, who also serves as vice chairman of Willis Group, will remain with broker in an advisory role until the end of the year.

Nevada captive licenses increase

The Nevada Division of Insurance licensed a record 35 captive insurance companies last year. Last year's 35 formations, brings the total number of licensed captives to 96 at year-end 2006, compared with 20 captives licensed in 2005. Of the new captives, 25 were single-parent, nine were risk retention groups and one was an association captive.