Fitch Ratings Affirms Various ACE Ins Subs, Off Rtg Watch Negative.Business Editors CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 6, 2003 Fitch Ratings Fitch Ratings An international rating agency for financial institutions, insurance companies, and corporate, sovereign, and municipal debt. Fitch Ratings has headquarters in New York and London and is wholly owned by FIMALAC of Paris. has affirmed af·firm v. af·firmed, af·firm·ing, af·firms v.tr. 1. To declare positively or firmly; maintain to be true. 2. To support or uphold the validity of; confirm. v.intr. the 'A+' insurer financial strength ratings of various U.S. insurance subsidiaries of ACE Limited (ACE), specifically the insurance subsidiaries of INA Ina (ē`nä), city (1990 pop. 60,062), Nagano prefecture, central Honshu, Japan, on the Tenryu River. It is an agricultural and industrial center with a famous agricultural school. Holdings Corporation (INA Holdings). The ratings were also removed from Rating Watch Negative. The Rating Outlook is Stable. INA Holdings is an intermediate holding company owned by ACE INA Holdings, Inc. (ACE INA). ACE INA is ultimately owned by ACE. INA Holdings and Brandywine Holdings Corporation (Brandywine Holdings) together comprise the domestic operations of ACE INA and represent the domestic property/casualty insurance operation that ACE purchased from CIGNA CIGNA CG (Connecticut General Life Insurance Company) INA (Insurance Company of North America) Corporation in 1999. INA Holdings owns the 19 insurance companies that represent the group's active insurance operations. Brandywine Holdings represents the inactive in·ac·tive adj. 1. Not active or tending to be active. 2. a. Not functioning or operating; out of use: inactive machinery. b. , runoff Runoff The procedure of printing the end-of-day prices for every stock on an exchange onto ticker tape. Notes: If the "tape is late" then it can take a long time to print off all the closing prices. operation that houses the group's asbestos asbestos, mineral asbestos, common name for any of a variety of silicate minerals within the amphibole and serpentine groups that are fibrous in structure and more or less resistant to acid and fire. and environmental claims. The two groups were separated in a 1996 restructuring. The rating action follows ACE's completion of a $500 million preferred security offering and a $250 million capital contribution to the insurance subsidiaries of INA Holdings. INA Holdings' insurer financial strength ratings had been placed on Rating Watch Negative on January 29, 2003 following ACE's announcement that it would record a $2.2 billion gross charge as the result of its asbestos reserve review. The charge triggered an aggregate excess of loss contract between the active insurance companies of INA Holdings and the inactive companies in Brandywine Holdings. Approximately $466 million (GAAP GAAP See: Generally Accepted Accounting Principles GAAP See generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). basis) of losses were ceded to the INA Holdings companies under this agreement. Fitch had previously indicated on April 23, 2003 that it would affirm the 'A+' financial strength ratings of the INA Holdings companies upon successful completion of the preferred security offering and the subsequent capital contribution of approximately $250 million to the insurance companies. The individual ratings affected by the rating action are listed below. Entity/Issue/Type Action Rating/Outlook ACE American Lloyds Insurance Company ACE American Insurance Company ACE Employers Insurance Company ACE Fire Underwriters Insurance Company ACE Indemnity Insurance Company ACE Insurance Company of Illinois ACE Insurance Company of Ohio ACE Insurance Company of Texas ACE Insurance Company of the Midwest ACE Property & Casualty Insurance Co. Allied Insurance Company Atlantic Employers Insurance Company Bankers Standard Fire and Marine Co. Bankers Standard Insurance Company Illinois Union Insurance Company INA Surplus Insurance Company Indemnity Ins. Co. of North America Insurance Company of North America Pacific Employers Insurance Company --Insurer Financial Strength 'A+'; --Rating Watch Removed from Negative; --Rating Outlook Stable. The ACE Group of Companies is one of the world's largest providers of property and casualty insurance and 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. . Headquartered in Bermuda, ACE provides a diversified range of products and services to clients in nearly 50 countries around the world. |
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