A.M. Best Places Ratings of Royal & Sun Alliance Under Review With Positive Implications.OLDWICK, N.J. -- A.M. Best Co. has placed the financial strength rating (FSR (Free System Resource) In Windows 3.x, the amount of unused memory in various 64K blocks reserved for managing current applications. Every open window takes some space in this area. See Windows memory limitation. ) of A- (Excellent) and the issuer credit ratings (ICR (Intelligent Character Recognition or Image Character Recognition) The machine recognition of hand-printed characters as well as machine printing that is difficult to recognize. ) of "a-" of Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Group plc (R&SA) (United Kingdom) and its rated subsidiaries under review with positive implications. At the same time, the ratings of R&SA's debt instruments and preferred stock Stock shares that have preferential rights to dividends or to amounts distributable on liquidation, or to both, ahead of common shareholders. Preferred stock is given preference over common stock. Holders of preferred stock receive dividends at a fixed annual rate. have also been placed under review with positive implications. (See link below for a detailed list of ratings.) These rating actions have been taken pending completion of the proposed sale of R&SA's U.S. operation to Arrowpoint Capital, a new company formed by R&SA's U.S. management team. A.M. Best will review the impact of the transaction on R&SA's risk adjusted capitalisation, particularly the impact of the removal of the U.S. technical reserves from its balance sheet. A.M. Best anticipates that this will result in a reduction in potential volatility, although prior to 2004 the company suffered shortfalls in its non-U.S. reserves (as well as it U.S. reserves). A.M. Best believes that after completion of the sale, R&SA's continuing exposure to the U.S. operation will be largely limited to timing risk relating to relating to relate prep → concernant relating to relate prep → bezüglich +gen, mit Bezug auf +acc an adverse development cover and the maintenance of existing letter of credit facilities credit facilities npl → facilidades fpl de crédito credit facilities npl → facilités fpl de paiement credit facilities . (The U.S. operation has a USD USD In currencies, this is the abbreviation for the U.S. Dollar. Notes: The currency market, also known as the Foreign Exchange market, is the largest financial market in the world, with a daily average volume of over US $1 trillion. 150 million letter of credit from its UK parent.). If the U.S. business were to draw down on this facility then repayment would have priority before any distribution could be made, subject to a limit of USD 100 million. The under review status of the ratings has positive implications, reflecting A.M. Best's view that the review will most likely result in an affirmation or upgrade of R&SA's existing ratings. A.M. Best anticipates finalising its review in line with R&SA's timeframe for completion of the sale which is expected by year-end 2006. For a complete list of Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Group plc's FSRs, ICRs and debt ratings, please visit www.ambest.com/press/092801rsa.pdf. For Best's Ratings Best's rating A rating A.M. Best Co. assigns to insurance companies based on the company's ability to meet its obligations to its policyholders. , an overview of the rating process and rating methodologies, please visit www.ambest.com/ratings. A.M. Best Co., established in 1899, is the world's oldest and most authoritative insurance rating and information source. For more information, visit A.M. Best's Web site at www.ambest.com. |
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