Converium upgraded by Moody's

ZUG, Switzerland—Converium Holding A.G. has been upgraded to A3 from Baa1 by Moody's Investors Service.

Moody's said the change reflected "the successful completion of the sale of Converium's North American operations, the continued enhancement of Converium's financial profile, with further improvements, for example, in underlying return on equity and combined ratio, good capitalization and a resilient and improving franchise."

The rating agency also noted that any settlement with U.S. regulators over restatements necessitated by a change to the accounting treatment of certain finite reinsurance transactions likely will not materially affect Converium's financial strength.

Converium, currently the subject of a takeover bid by French reinsurer SCOR S.A., recently was upgraded to A- from BBB+ by Standard & Poor's Corp.