Liberty opens office in Madrid

LONDON— Liberty International Underwriters, a unit of insurer Liberty Mutual Group, has opened an office in Madrid, Spain.

Fernando Lara, who was previously a financial institutions underwriter in specialty casualty insurance department, will head the new office. The lines of business on offer will be directors and officers, financial institutions and professional indemnity insurance initially. Other products will follow.

LIU said that the opening was part of the group's European growth strategy.

"We have been writing Spanish business for some time now under the E.U. passporting license, but in order to achieve our expansion plans, we need to give local brokers a local presence," said Sean Rocks, LIU Europe's chief executive officer.