BestWeek: A.M. Best Roundtable Probes Reinsurers' Views on U.S. Collateral Requirements.OLDWICK, N.J. -- The long-running debate over U.S. collateral requirements for alien reinsurers may come to a head by the end of this year, as the National Association of Insurance Commissioners' 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. task force works toward a draft proposal on changing the rules. To gauge the opinions of insurance executives on the issue, BestWeek brought together representatives from three top players. William R. Berkley, chairman and chief executive officer of W.R. Berkley Corp., a U.S.-based insurer and reinsurer re·in·sure tr.v. re·in·sured, re·in·sur·ing, re·in·sures To insure again, especially by transferring all or part of the risk in a contract to a new contract with another insurance company. , defended the current collateral structure as the best available method of ensuring claims payments for U.S. insurers. Julian James, director of worldwide markets for Lloyd's of London Not to be confused with Lloyds Bank or Lloyd's Register. Lloyd's of London is a British insurance market. It serves as a meeting place where multiple financial backers or “members”, whether individuals (traditionally known as , a tireless critic of the U.S. collateral system, argued that such requirements hamper foreign players in the U.S. market, thereby constraining reinsurance capacity and raising costs. Pierre Ozendo, chairman and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of Swiss Re America, places U.S. collateral requirements as a subset of a larger issue: the need to work out a comprehensive global regulatory framework in which reinsurers all can operate under the same set of rules. Also featured is Best's Insurance Composite Index Composite Index A grouping of equities, indexes or other factors combined in a standardized way, providing a useful statistical measure of overall market or sector performance over time. Also known simply as a "composite". , which finished the week of Sept. 28, 2006, at 1,163.57, up 7.39% from a year ago. The composite index reflects the performance of 131 insurance stocks. The week's top performers were Meadowbrook Insurance Group Inc.; National Security Group Inc.; Tower Group Inc.; Kentucky Investors Inc.; and Atlantic American Corp. The week's bottom performers were National Interstate Corp.; PMA PMA (papillary-marginal-attached), n a system of epidemiologic scoring of periodontal disease devised by Schour and Massler in which the symbols denote the areas involved in gingival inflammation. PMA Progressive muscular atrophy Capital Corp.; Gainsco Inc.; Sierra Health Services health services Managed care The benefits covered under a health contract Inc.; and National Atlantic Holdings Corp. To subscribe to BestWeek, please call A.M. Best's customer service department at (908) 439-2200, ext. 5742, or e-mail your request to customer_service@ambest.com. 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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