A.M. Best Places Ratings of SCOR and Converium Under Review.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 SCOR SCOR Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research SCOR Supply Chain Operations Reference model SCOR Small Corporate Offering Registration SCOR Specialized Center of Research (White Plains, NY) SCOR Second Cousin Once Removed (France) and its rated subsidiaries under review with negative implications. Concurrently, A.M. Best has placed all debt ratings either issued or guaranteed by SCOR under review with negative implications. At the same time, A.M. Best has placed the FSRs of B++ (Good) and the ICRs of "bbb+" of Converium AG (Switzerland) and its rated subsidiaries under review with positive implications. (See below for a detailed listing of the ratings.) The rating actions follow the announcement that Converium's board of directors has decided to recommend the takeover offer launched by SCOR last month and to withdraw its litigation An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute. When a person begins a civil lawsuit, the person enters into a process called litigation. in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. . In A.M. Best's view, this acquisition would further improve SCOR's business profile in the global reinsurance The contract made between an insurance company and a third party to protect the insurance company from losses. The contract provides for the third party to pay for the loss sustained by the insurance company when the company makes a payment on the original contract. market. However, A.M. Best needs to evaluate the impact of this transaction on the combined entities' risk-adjusted capitalisation n. 1. same as capitalization. Noun 1. capitalisation - writing in capital letters capitalization writing - letters or symbols that are written or imprinted on a surface to represent the sounds or words of a language; "he turned the paper and also the execution risk inherent in such a transaction. A.M. Best aims to resolve the under review status as soon as possible and expects the ratings to be equalized at either SCOR's or Converium's level. The FSR of A- (Excellent) and the ICRs of "a-" of the following rated entities of the SCOR Group have been placed under review with negative implications: * SCOR * SCOR Global P&C * SCOR Canada Reinsurance Company * SCOR DEUTSCHLAND Rueckversicherungs AG * SCOR Reinsurance Company * General Security National Insurance Company * General Security Indemnity Company of Arizona * SCOR Italia Riassicurazioni S.p.A. * SCOR Life Insurance Company * SCOR Life US Re Insurance Company * SCOR Reinsurance Asia-Pacific Pte Ltd PTE LTD Private Limited * SCOR UK Company Ltd * SCOR Global Life * SCOR Global Life Rueckversicherung AG * Revios Reinsurance US Inc The following senior, subordinated and short-term debt Short-term debt Debt obligations, recorded as current liabilities, requiring payment within the year. ratings have been placed under review with negative implications:
SCOR Group--
-- "a- " on EUR 200 million 4.125% senior unsecured convertible
bonds, due 2010
-- "a-" on EUR 200 million 5.25% senior unsecured EUR medium term
note program, due 2007
-- "bbb+" on EUR 100 million subordinated step-up notes, due 2020
-- "bbb+" on USD 100 million subordinated step-up notes, due 2029
-- "bbb" on EUR 350 million 6.154% undated deeply subordinated
notes
-- "bbb" on EUR 50 million subordinated step-up notes issued by
Societe d'Etudes et de Placements Financiers and guaranteed by
SCOR, due 2049
The following commercial paper rating has placed under review with negative implications
-- AMB-2 on EUR commercial paper program
The FSR of B++ (Good) and the ICR of "bbb+" have been placed under review with positive implications for the following companies: * Converium AG * Converium Rueckversicherung (Deutschland) AG * Converium Insurance (UK) Limited The ICR of "bb+"of Converium Finance S.A. has been placed under review with positive implications. The following debt ratings of "bbb-" have been placed under review with positive implications:
Converium Finance S.A. (guaranteed by Converium Holding AG and
Converium AG)--
-- USD 200 million 8.25% guaranteed subordinated notes, due
December 2032
Founded in 1899, A.M. Best Company is a full-service credit rating organization dedicated to serving the financial services The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. industries, including the banking and insurance sectors. For more information, visit www.ambest.com. |
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