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Aon Global Risk Consulting, a leading provider of risk advisory services and part of Aon Corporation (NYSE: AON), today announced the launch of Aon Global Risk Consulting Bermuda, which is part of Aon Insurance Managers (Bermuda) Ltd.

Aon, which has operated in Bermuda since 1963, selected to establish an Aon Global Risk Consulting office in Bermuda because of the country’s position as the leading captive domicile and one of the world’s largest insurance markets.

“Corporations are looking more and more to integrate captive strategies to help manage their total cost of risk as the regulatory process is tightening worldwide,” said Stephen Cross, chief executive officer of Aon Global Risk Consulting. “By connecting Aon’s risk consulting services with its captive management offering, Aon has created a one-stop shop for corporations seeking traditional and innovative risk-based solutions.”

Laura Taylor, a long-time Aon executive and risk consulting expert, will lead Aon Global Risk Consulting Bermuda. Taylor will also continue to serve as managing director and global enterprise risk management practice leader at Aon.

Taylor added, “Aon has operated in the Bermuda captive market for nearly 50 years, and we see potential for outstanding growth in the domicile. Our expansion in Bermuda will enhance the firm’s offerings and create additional opportunities for clients in the global marketplace.”

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Viajes Marsans, one of Spain’s biggest and oldest tour operators, has been declared insolvent, according to a court ruling seen by AFP on Monday.

The judge took the decision on Friday after about 20 companies made complaints over unpaid bills. But the judge ruled that Posibilitum Business, which acquired Marsans earlier this month for 600 million euros (740 million dollars), can continue to run the firm.

Marsans’ financial difficulties took a turn for the worse in December when a British court ordered its airline Air Comet to close owing to its massive debts. In March Marsans’ insurance company Seguros Mercurio went under.

Spanish news reports have said Posibilitum plans to dismiss more than half of all the firm’s workers. They said Posibilitum will also close half of Marsans’ offices across the country and move out of its modern headquarters in Madrid in order to save money.

The business daily Cinco Dias Monday reported that Marsans had not paid the rent of 700,000 euros per month on the building “for months” to the German group Union Investment which owns it.

Madrid, June 28, 2010 (AFP)

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Aon Benfield, the world’s premier reinsurance intermediary and capital advisor, today launches a new report that examines the many different facets of the Solvency II framework ahead of the scheduled 2012 inception of the protocol.

The 63-page study, Solvency II for Reinsurance Mangers, provides a comprehensive overview of the European Union regime from a variety of perspectives – including those of rating agencies and captives – that will help reinsurance managers in their business preparations for Solvency II.

The study reveals how Solvency II will boost the importance of reinsurance by proving its value as an efficient form of capital, which can be demonstrated through a partial internal model. As the regulation puts further pressure on capital, buying reinsurance should no longer be a budget matter, but be based on sound risk and capital considerations. A partial internal model, for example using Aon Benfield’s ReMetrica and S2Metrica software, can increase the benefit of reinsurance within the non-life capital requirement by 25% and even more in certain cases.

Key themes and recommendations for reinsurance managers include:

• A partial internal model is crucial to obtain a more accurate picture of premium risk. The Standard Formula does not provide adequate credit for non-proportional reinsurance on casualty lines. In particular, the existing proposal in QIS 5 penalises larger insurers by providing no noticeable benefit from purchasing non-proportional reinsurance while an internal model would provide that advantage;

• Catastrophe risk will become a main driver for capital with the benchmark to withstand a 1 in 200 year event. However the methodology for the standardised scenarios for catastrophe modelling overlooks key data features like location granularity, occupancy (residential versus commercial versus industrial), limits or deductibles;

• For insurers with a well-diversified portfolio of reinsurers, counterparty default capital requirement – which accounts for approximately 5-10% of total required capital – can be 40% lower than a portfolio of less diversified counterparties.

Marc Beckers, head of EMEA Analytics at Aon Benfield, said: “In a Solvency II world, reinsurance is the most obvious place to start with an internal model. Under the current proposal, the benefit of an internal model compared to the Standard Formula is largest for reinsurance, particularly for non-proportional property cat and casualty reinsurance. Rather than looking to raise capital to fund any shortfall in net assets, companies may consider reinsurance options to reduce their capital requirement. Furthermore, volatility of earnings will increase as a result of fair value accounting (Solvency II and IFRS Phase II) and reinsurance is the cheapest and most efficient way to reduce this volatility.”

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    Britain’s state-controlled Lloyds Banking Group said Wednesday it was cutting another 650 jobs as the company continues to streamline its operations.

    “Significant progress has been made in mitigating the total number of potential job losses through relocation, redeployment and the release of contractors and temporary staff,” Lloyds said in a statement. “As a result … there will be a total net reduction of 650 permanent full time Lloyds Banking Group jobs.” The bank added: “The gross number of jobs impacted before taking into account the group’s mitigating actions would have been approximately 1,850.”

    LBG is 41.3-percent owned by the government after an enormous state bailout at the height of the global financial crisis. Lloyds has now axed a total of 15,650 jobs, including 11,500 positions that were cut in 2009, according to a company spokesman. The latest job cuts will fall in LBG’s insurance division, group operations and adminstration for its retail banking division. The job losses will affect staff based in Nottingham, central England, and Chester in the northwest.

    Lloyds added that it would close 265 Halifax-branded counters that are based at solicitors and estate agent branches, in a move expected to spark further job losses, but the workers are not directly employed by Lloyds. Unite, Britain’s biggest trade union, reacted with fury to the latest round of cuts. “For the staff at Lloyds today marks the start of another long summer of worry as they now face uncertainty about the security of their job,” said Unite national officer Cath Speight.

    “This taxpayer-owned financial institution needs to focus on retaining the hardworking staff who have ensured the highest levels of service to it’s customers over the past 18 difficult months, not dumping them on the scrap heap.”

    London, United Kingdom, June 30, 2010 (AFP)

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    Men and women may continue to argue about who are the better drivers, but one area where there is a clear difference between the sexes is the type of accidents they have in their cars.

    Research by women’s car insurance specialist, Diamond has found there are certain types of accidents women are more likely than men to be involved in. The list for women includes accidents in car parks, bumps on roundabouts and prangs at traffic lights. On the other hand, male motorists are more likely than female motorists to have a head on collision, drive their car up or down an embankment or hit a crash barrier.

    Diamond studied data from over two million accidents over five years and found a marked difference between the types of accidents men and women have.

    Sian Lewis, managing director of Diamond, said: “We hold a vast amount of data on accidents and wanted to see if there was a difference between the sexes. “It soon became clear that there was; women tend to be in more accidents at slower speeds, where cars are close together, while men have more high-speed accidents where it is easy to lose control. high-speed accidents, women motorists, men motorists “Our research suggests the way men and women drive is different. Possibly men drive faster and more aggressively than women, while women are more easily distracted than men behind the wheel of car.”

    In fact, it isn’t just accidents where men and women motorists differ. There are differences when it come to other claims too; overall women are more likely to have their car broken into and have something inside stolen. However men are more likely to have their car stolen outright.

    Men’s cars are also more likely to catch fire than women’s and they’re more likely to drive through a flood. Men are also more likely than women to claim for fuel contamination.
    Sian Lewis continues: “It’s very strange that men’s cars are more likely to catch fire than women’s. I can’t explain why that would happen. But one reason why women are more likely to have their car broken into is perhaps because they’re more likely to leave expensive items like their handbag or sunglasses on show than men.”

    Types of claims more common among women:
    – Hitting another vehicle in the rear
    – Hitting another vehicle from a minor road
    – Reversed into another vehicle
    – Collision on roundabout
    – Collision in car park
    – Theft from vehicle
    – Hitting a wall
    – Hitting a lamp post
    – Collision at traffic light junction
    – Hitting a cyclist

    Types of claims more common among men:
    – Changing lanes and hitting another vehicle
    – Driving up or down an embankment
    – Vehicle stolen
    – Hitting a crash barrier
    – Hitting an animal
    – Head of collision with another vehicle
    – Hitting a tree
    – Driven through flood
    – Vehicle caught fire
    – Fuel contamination

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    Aegon welcomes today’s announcement by the Department of Work and Pensions of a ‘thorough and speedy review’ of automatic enrolment into workplace pensions. Aegon says the terms of reference for the review mirror the calls made in its Pensions Manifesto published in the run up to the election.

    Aegon suggests the speed of the review is particularly welcome as employers and providers need time to prepare for the reforms to avoid further slippage of the 2012 timetable. The company is also encouraged by Steve Webb’s comment that the review is designed ‘to make sure that it pays to save’.
    Aegon has repeatedly argued that concerns about the impact of means testing on pension savings must be addressed if the aim of pensions reform, to get more people saving more money for retirement, is to succeed.

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    New claims for US jobless benefits fell for the first time in three weeks, the government said Thursday amid persistent concerns that unemployment may dampen recovery.

    Claims fell to 457,000 in the week ending June 19, a decrease of 19,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 476,000, the Labor Department said. Most economists had expected claims to fall to 460,000. The four-week moving average of jobless insurance claims, a less volatile indicator than the week-to-week figures, was 462,750, a decrease of 1,500 from the previous week’s revised average of 464,250.

    The department said the total number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits also fell. During the week ending June 12, that figure was over 4.5 million, decreasing by 45,000 from the preceding week. Unemployment stands at 9.7 percent, posing a major threat to US recovery from the most severe recession in decades. The United States has lost more than eight million jobs since the economy entered recession in December 2007.

    Washington, June 24, 2010 (AFP)

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    Whittington Group, the international insurance investor and services provider, today announced the launch next week of a new direct online insurance company, DirectAsia.com, in Singapore.

    This is Whittington’s boldest initiative in Asia to date. Providing fast, easy access to insurance needs online, DirectAsia.com offers motor, travel, home and personal accident insurance.
    Whittington Group, which has been headquartered in Singapore since 2006, saw an opportunity to bring the direct on-line insurance business model to Asia, where surprisingly virtually all personal lines insurance is still sold through agents.

    The agents take commissions ranging from 10% to 50% and there has been significant disquiet expressed by consumers about the service and premium levels charged by the local market.
    Whittington has spent the last two years assembling an internationally experienced team and implementing state-of-the-art IT to bring the best in the world on-line business process and practices to Singapore.

    Licensed and regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, DirectAsia.com is wholly owned by Whittington which has a proven track record of launching over a dozen insurance start-ups internationally.

    “The introduction of direct insurance is long overdue in most Asian countries. We have already seen the success of the direct business model in many other markets around the world, including Japan and South Korea”, said Anthony Hobrow, Group Chief Executive of Whittington Group.

    “DirectAsia.com will offer consumers 24/7 convenience, great value for money and a range of transparently priced cover options that will transform the buying experience for Singapore consumers. Couple that with a claims service that will be far superior to any other local insurer and we have the base to transform the insurance landscape in Singapore and thereafter in other Asian markets”, he added.

    Reinsurance support for DirectAsia.com is provided by Munich Re, one of the world’s leading reinsurers. “Munich Re offers DirectAsia.com stable and sustainable reinsurance capacity founded on our financial solidity. Our reinsurance agreement gives DirectAsia.com access to our international network, consulting expertise and extensive motor insurance know-how. It also underscores our position as a high-value solution provider in Southeast Asia”, said Alexander Lay, Head of Casualty Underwriting, Munich Re Singapore.

    The business is led by Andrew Byrne, DirectAsia.com Chief Executive Officer, an Australian with a successful track record in Australia’s personal lines insurance business, one of the toughest and most competitive markets in the World.

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    The US health care system is the costliest in the world, but underperforms relative to many other industrialized nations, according to a study released Wednesday.

    The report by the Commonwealth Fund, a private foundation focused on health, updated its comparison of the US medical care system to those in Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Britain.

    The US system “ranks last or next-to-last on five dimensions of a high performance health system: quality, access, efficiency, equity, and healthy lives,” the report said. But the study, an update to three prior reports, noted that newly enacted health reform legislation in the US “will start to address these problems” by extending coverage and helping to close gaps in coverage.

    “The most notable way the US differs from other countries is the absence of universal health insurance coverage,” it said. “Health reform legislation recently signed into law by President Barack Obama should begin to improve the affordability of insurance and access to care when fully implemented in 2014.

    “Other nations ensure the accessibility of care through universal health insurance systems and through better ties between patients and the physician practices that serve as their long-term ‘medical homes.’ Without reform, it is not surprising that the US currently underperforms relative to other countries on measures of access to care and equity in health care between populations with above-average and below-average incomes.”

    The US health system ranked last in the study on access, patient safety, coordination, efficiency, and equity. The Netherlands ranks first, followed closely by Britain and Australia.
    The US system also lags in national policies that promote primary care, quality improvement, and information technology, the report noted, but said that the health reform legislation addresses these deficiencies.

    The Fund said that health care costs an average of 7,290 dollars per person in the United States, compared with 3,837 dollars in the Netherlands, 2,992 dollars in Britain and 3,895 dollars in Canada. Some of the difference stems from high administrative costs in the non-centralized US system, it said: “US health insurance administrative costs as a share of total health spending are 30 percent to 70 percent higher than in countries with mixed private/public insurance systems and three times higher than in countries with the lowest rates.”

    The new health legislation aims to extend coverage to 32 million Americans without insurance. The law phases in over several years. The enactment of the US law ended more than a year of intense political battles in Washington over the health bill, which passed Congress despite near unanimous Republican opposition. But the political row over health care is intensifying, as Obama and his Republican foes fight to define the politically contentious bill for voters, ahead of crucial mid-term congressional elections in November.

    Washington, June 23, 2010 (AFP)

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      British investment group Resolution said Thursday it has agreed to buy French insurer AXA’s British life insurance and savings units for 2.75 billion pounds (3.3 billion euros, 4.0 billion dollars).

      “Resolution and AXA are pleased to announce the agreed acquisition of the AXA UK Life Business by FPH, a subsidiary undertaking of Resolution,” the pair said in an official statement. Resolution added that it would seek to merge the new acquisition with Friends Provident, the British insurer which it had bought last year for 1.858 billion pounds.

      “The total consideration payable is up to 2.750 million pounds,” the two companies added. The purchase involves a cash payment of 2.25 billion pounds with the rest paid in shares. The deal is expected to be finalised in September, but requires approval by Resolution’s shareholders and regulators. Resolution described the transaction as the “logical next step” in its life insurance strategy, and forecast cost-savings of about 75 million pounds per year over the next three years.

      However, the deal was not a surprise for the market after the two groups had revealed earlier this month that they were working towards an agreement. Resolution is trying to lead consolidation in Britain’s insurance sector and Friends Provident was its first major acquisition in its bid to acquire three to four insurers over the next few years.

      In a separate statement, AXA UK said that the deal followed a review of its life operations and would allow the group to focus on wealth management. “This is a significant step in AXA UK’s strategy that sharpens our focus on future profitable growth and builds on the market leading position that we have developed in our wealth management business, as well as in our other businesses,” said AXA UK boss Nicolas Moreau.

      London, June 24, 2010 (AFP)

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      US President Barack Obama unveiled new measures Tuesday implementing the landmark health care bill that became law this year, telling opponents of the plan that “we’re not going back.”

      Three months after the enactment of the law that aims to extend medical coverage to 32 million Americans, Obama announced the new rules which he said would “put an end to some of the worst practices in the insurance industry.” Obama said that the measures, part of the phasing in of the law over several years, would offer greater consumer protection to people who might otherwise be denied or lose health coverage.

      “Starting in September, some of the worst abuses will be banned forever,” he said. “No more discriminating against children with preexisting conditions. No more retroactively dropping somebody’s policy when they get sick if they made an unintentional mistake on an application. No more lifetime limits or restrictive annual limits on coverage. Those days are over.”

      The president told his political adversaries, including Republicans seeking to reverse the law and make health care an issue in upcoming congressional elections, that he would fight such efforts. “We’re in Washington, so obviously there’s politics involved,” he said. “And I’ve got some folks on the other side of the aisle that still think none of this should happen and, in fact, have said they’re going to run on a platform of repeal. They want to go back to the system we had before.”

      But he stated: “We’re not going back. I refuse to go back. And so do countless Americans who bravely shared their stories with me over two years as I traveled this country, and who wrote letter after letter to me in the White House.” Obama spoke after meeting health insurance industry executives amid concerns that some firms have begun to raise premiums ahead of various deadlines under the new law.

      “Some insurance companies tried to raise rates even before we passed the law, even though some of them were making record profits,” he said. “The CEOs here today need to know that they’re going to be required to publicly justify unreasonable premium increases… we’ll be watching closely, and we’ll fully support states if they exercise their review authority to keep excessively expensive plans out of their insurance exchanges.”

      The enactment of the law ended more than a year of intense political battles in Washington over the health bill, which passed Congress despite almost unanimous Republican opposition. But the political row over health care is intensifying, as Obama and his Republican foes fight to define the politically contentious bill for voters, ahead of crucial mid-term congressional elections in November.

      Washington, June 22, 2010 (AFP)

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        Liberty Mutual Group is pleased to announce the winners of its BRING BACK THE 4TH™ contest, which – from May 13 to June 14, 2010 – allowed U.S cities and towns to compete for ten $10,000 grants to help save their official Fourth of July celebrations from being cancelled or curtailed, due to stretched budgets. More than 48,000 Americans from over 3,000 U.S. cities and towns visited www.BringBackThe4th.com to take Liberty Mutual’s quiz, with many using Facebook, Twitter, e-mail, and blog posts to rally their neighbors to participate on behalf of their communities.

        Americans seeking to continue their local July 4th traditions were asked to take a brief U.S. history quiz at www.BringBackThe4th.com , featuring questions about people and events that helped shape our nation. Each completed quiz counted as one credit towards a website visitor’s town, and the 10 U.S. municipalities with the most completed quizzes would win grants. Bring Back the 4th grants are awarded to cities and towns in three size-based categories: small (four grants), medium (three grants), and large (three grants).

        Following are the 10 cities and towns that will each receive a $10,000 grant from Liberty Mutual to support their Independence Day celebrations:

        Small City/Town Category:

        Steamboat Springs, Colorado
        Springfield, Georgia
        Belmond, Iowa
        Winslow, Maine

        Medium City/Town Category:

        Wilmington, Massachusetts
        Montclair, New Jersey
        Bowling Green, Ohio

        Large City/Town Category:

        Springfield, Illinois
        Cincinnati, Ohio
        Vancouver, Washington

        “We created Bring Back the 4th based on the idea that, when faced with a challenge impacting an entire community, Americans will rally together to make things right,” said Paul Alexander, Senior Vice President, Communications for Liberty Mutual. “And sure enough, tens of thousands of Americans went online and earned a chance for their hometowns to bring back their beloved Fourth of July traditions. We at Liberty Mutual are honored to support this groundswell of community spirit, and wish everyone a happy and safe Independence Day.”

        In addition to BRING BACK THE 4TH, Liberty Mutual also helps America celebrate Independence Day by sponsoring The Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular, a nationally broadcast CBS Television special featuring conductor Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops orchestra. This year’s celebration will feature Country Music superstar Toby Keith and be hosted again by Craig Ferguson of the CBS “Late, Late Show.” Set on Boston’s Charles River Esplanade, last year’s concert drew more than 800,000 concertgoers and over seven million TV viewers. Liberty Mutual – whose sponsorship brings the concert’s 21-minute fireworks finale commercial-free to U.S. households – announced last year it would continue its sponsorship of the event through 2012. New for 2010, the entire concert will be broadcast in HD (high definition), also courtesy of Liberty Mutual. This year’s national broadcast will air on CBS-TV on July 4, 2010 from 10:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. 2010 marks the Pops’ 125th Anniversary.

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        For motorcyclists looking for better deals on their bike insurance, comparethemarket.com has launched a new bike insurance comparison service. The quick and easy-to-use service allows consumers to search comparethemarket.com for excellent money-saving deals across a number of leading motorbike insurance brands including Bennetts, Suzuki, Honda, eBike and MCE.

        As well as motorbike insurance, comparethemarket.com’s existing portfolio includes comparisons for car and home insurance, credit cards, payment protection and health insurance, utilities and mortgages. All these services and many more are now available on a single site, giving consumers greater choice, value for money and even more opportunities to keep the credit crunch at bay.

        “In order to help motorcyclists choose the right deal for them, comparethemarket.com displays additional policy information alongside the price of the bike policy, making it easier to see exactly what they are buying,” said Jeremy Moll, Commercial Director, comparethemarket.com. “Not only will bikers be able to compare price on their insurance, a range of other important policy features such as Helmet and Leathers cover, Breakdown, European and Legal cover will also be available for comparison.”

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        Europe should tax its banks in order to build up an emergency bail-out fund whatever other major economies decide at this weekend’s G20 summit, EU finance commissioner Michel Barnier said on Tuesday.

        Europe and the United States are pushing for a levy on banks to raise funds to support collapsing institutions and prevent a repeat of recent financial disasters, but other economic powers are opposed to the idea.

        “We should put it in place whatever happens, whatever the others decide,” Barnier told reporters in Paris, adding that European governments were already united behind the principle of some kind of tax.

        Barnier said proceeds should not be used to help states pay down their own deficits — as ministers in some countries, notably his native France, have argued — but put aside as an insurance against future bank failures.

        France, Britain, Germany and the United States have publicly urged their G20 partners to adopt a tax, but Russia, China, India, Australia and summit hosts Canada oppose this and no decision is expected this week.

        Paris, June 22, 2010 (AFP)

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        US insurance giant American International Group (AIG) and a Hong Kong consortium said Monday they had agreed to extend the deadline for a deal involving AIG’s Taiwan subsidiary.

        Hong Kong-based China Strategic Holdings and Primus Financial Holdings in October agreed to acquire AIG’s Taiwan unit Nan Shan Life for 2.15 billion US dollars, pending approval from Taiwan’s financial regulator. But the deal has been in limbo since November, when China Strategic announced a plan to sell a 30 percent stake in Nan Shan to the Taipei-based Chinatrust Financial Holding Co.

        The two sides agreed to extend the deadline from July 12 to October 12 “in order to accommodate the completion of the sale of AIG’s stake in Nan Shan Life Insurance Company, Ltd. to the consortium,” they said in a joint statement. “The extension of the date of the purchase agreement underscores the commitment of both parties to the successful close of the transaction,” the statement said.

        The consortium has repeatedly denied rumours that surfaced late last year that mainland Chinese capital was involved in the deal. Taiwan has partially lifted a decade-old ban on investment from the mainland amid improving ties between Taipei and Beijing after President Ma Ying-jeou took office in 2008 on a China-friendly platform. However, the Taiwan government still imposes various restrictions in key sectors such as finance, flat-panel technology and telecommunications as it seeks to keep control of its economy.

        Taipei, June 21, 2010 (AFP)

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        Evolution Underwriting Group has launched an initiative to provide its Brokers and Policyholders with exclusive deals on an online range of Products from Cardinus Risk Management.

        Under the deal all Evolution policyholders will receive a voucher offering a free £100 initial purchase for a range of services which can be purchased at a co-branded version of Cardinus’s SME portal. Registering the voucher will also grant Evolution’s customers access to a wide ranging Risk Management library and a range of free updates throughout the year. Evolution’s hand-picked panel of 300 brokers will receive a similar voucher to the value of £500.

        Evolution’s Paul Upton commented: “Since we formed the Company in 2004 Evolution has put Risk Management at the core of its Underwriting offering. We have looked at a number of partnership style arrangements over the years and have not been able to find one that is truly differentiated and aimed squarely at our SME client base.

        Now through our Risk Services company we are delighted to be able to bring our loyal brokers and policyholders something which they cannot get elsewhere. The sheer breadth and depth of the Cardinus offering combined with the fact that policyholders are not locked into multi-year contracts or obligations to purchase going forward make it a very exciting proposition for us.”
        Andy Hawkes, CEO of Cardinus Risk Management added: “Cardinus has developed over the past 15 years into a leading provider of health and safety, ergonomics, business continuity, fleet and property risk management solutions to UK, European and US businesses including the likes of Health and Safety Executive, Cabinet Office, Hewlett Packard, and Lloyds of London.

        Our traditional focus has been to deliver solutions to large corporates but we have now developed our SME proposition and see the tie up with Evolution as a perfect partnership. In an increasingly tough environment for businesses the burden on management to ensure that Health and Safety, Training and Disaster Recovery exposures are adequately managed gets bigger year on year. The Cardinus suite of products is a highly cost effective and simple way of managing these risks and the capability and content of the portal will continue to grow. “

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        Welsh broker Moorhouse is soon to launch its first business under Moorhouse Enterprise, set up to support the next generation of broker start-ups.

        Subject to regulatory approval Mike Callard will lead Optin as director of the Taunton-based freight and haulage commercial broker as an appointed representative of the Moorhouse Group Ltd. The initial product range will include fleet, transit and property.

        Moorhouse has facilitated the start up of Optin by providing a suitable software system, infrastructure and compliance support. Mike has also received one-to-one help, guidance and business advice from Moorhouse chairman Lyndon on all aspects of the project.

        The shareholding split is Mike Callard 60%; Moorhouse 20% and Lyndon Wood 20%. Although the shareholding split and specific support were as stated in this case, under the Moorhouse Enterprise’s offering both are negotiable and completely flexible to assist individuals or teams as required.

        Lyndon Wood said: “I really enjoy helping businesses generally so it has been great to see the first Moorhouse Enterprise project get off the ground. There are a lot of people who would like to start up their own business but are put off by the various hurdles to be overcome and the economic climate. But this shows that with the right support it can be done, in fact Moorhouse itself was launched in a recession 20 years ago. There are several other prospects in play for Moorhouse Enterprise which aims to help many realise their ambitions.”

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        Continuing its expansion into continental Europe, Liberty International Underwriters in Europe (LIU Europe), a division of Liberty Mutual Group, has established a local underwriting presence in France for trade credit and political risk business with the appointment of Alexandre Egnell as Assistant Vice President, Trade Credit/Political Risk.

        Based in Paris, Mr. Egnell reports to Matthew Woollam, Chief Underwriting Officer, Trade Credit and Political Risk for underwriting/technical issues, and to Olivier Muraire who heads up LIU Europe’s Southern operation. This is LIU Europe’s second appointment to its French operations in the past month.

        With fifteen years’ experience in the insurance industry, Mr. Egnell has held senior underwriting roles in trade credit and political risk in the U.S. and France. He also has a Master’s degree in Business and Insurance Law from the Paris-Sorbonne University.

        Commenting on the appointment, Matthew Woollam said: “Outside London, continental Europe is our biggest market for trade credit and political risk business. France in particular has a strong manufacturing base and the banks there focus on trade and commodity finance, which creates a strong demand for trade and investment related insurance.

        Alexandre Egnell’s appointment as a local, French speaking underwriter will help us grow our share of this market and is the latest in a line of recent appointments as we look to extend LIU Europe’s product lines throughout Europe.”

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          The Met Office has issued a weather warning for Wales, West Midlands and South West England. Heavy rain is expected today from 1500 to 2300.

          Heavy and slow-moving showers will affect some areas this afternoon and may give totals in excess of 15 mm in three hours. The public are advised to take extra care and refer to Traffic Wales for further advice on road conditions. Areas which should be affected are Blaenau, Gwent, Caerphilly, Merthyr, Tydfil, Powys, Rhondda and Cynon Taff.

          http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/wl/wl_forecast_warnings.html?from=rss&sn=2147

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          Malaysia has issued commercial banking licences to five foreign banks, including French giant BNP Paribas, the country’s central bank announced Thursday.

          The move came as part of government efforts announced in April last year to liberalise the financial sector, allowing nine new banking and insurance licences and easing foreign ownership limits for non-commercial banks. As well as BNP Paribas, the banks that have been issued licences are Indonesia’s PT Bank Mandiri (Persero), the National Bank of Abu Dhabi, and Japan’s Mizuho Corporate Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.

          Bank Negara said in issuing the licences that it had taken into account the banks’ “financial strength, track record, expertise, business plan and potential contribution” towards the development of Malaysia’s financial sector.

          “The presence of these banks will also further enhance Malaysia’s international linkages through facilitating international trade and investment flows between Malaysia and other parts of the world,” it said in a statement. Malaysia has issued 19 licences for commercial banking and six for Islamic banks to foreign operators to date, including to India’s Bank of Baroda in April and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China in November last year.

          Kuala Lumpur, June 17, 2010 (AFP)

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