Validus Touts ‘Superior Proposal’ for Transatlantic; Allied Says It’s a Done Deal

There seems to be a slight divergence of views between Validus Holdings and Allied World over the current status of their respective efforts to acquire Transatlantic Holdings, Inc. Following Transatlantic’s decision to reject its latest offer, and to file a lawsuit against it to boot, Validus issued a statement reiterating that its offer is superior to Allied World’s. Chairman and CEO Ed Noonan expressed his company’s disappointment over the decision, but said he was “not surprised by today’s response from the Transatlantic Board, particularly given their prior demand that we agree to a restrictive standstill before entering into discussions regarding our Superior Proposal.” Noonan described the actions of Validus’ board as “nothing more than a poorly disguised attempt to prevent us from bringing our Superior Proposal to Transatlantic stockholders.” He also accused the board of taking “further steps to entrench themselves by establishing a poison pill, initiating meritless legal action, and changing corporate by-laws in an apparent effort to more easily manipulate stockholder meetings.

NZ Minister Says Deal in Global Climate Talks ‘Still within Reach’

A global deal on a pact to succeed the U.N.’s main climate agreement is still within reach but will not be struck this year, with the pace of talks still far too slow, New Zealand’s top climate negotiator said on Wednesday. Inevitably, there would be a gap after the Kyoto Protocol’s first period expires in 2012, Minister of Climate Change Negotiations Tim Groser said in an interview after delegates from 35 nations attended two days of climate talks in Auckland

Guernsey Removed from U.S. “Blacklist”

The island of Guernsey’s Chief Minister, Lyndon Trott, met with officials in Washington this week as part of a series of discussions that have been conducted for a number of years. The dialogue between U.S. officials and the island’s representative produced a positive result, as Guernsey has been removed from Democratic Senator Carl Levin’s “blacklist.” The meetings have focused on strengthening ties between the Guernsey and U.S.

Geneva Association Appoints Inscoe to Head Institutional Relations

International insurance think tank, The Geneva Association, announced the appointment of former Secretary General of the International Association of Deposit Insurers (IADI) and Deputy Director of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Donald Inscoe, as Head of Institutional Relations. He began his career as a supervisory policy analyst and bank examiner at the FDIC, subsequently moving to the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council.

Lloyd’s Sees Opportunities in Emerging Markets

As levels of international trade and the importance of emerging economies increase, Lloyd’s has been very active in its efforts to open up access to overseas markets. However, in an article on its web site it called for “greater co-operation between market participants, Lloyd’s and its country managers,” which “could create even greater opportunities.”  Lloyd’s notes that despite the global financial crisis, “many emerging markets in Asia, Latin America and other parts of the world continue to grow. This trend offers opportunities to a global insurance market like Lloyd’s, but it also presents challenges,” explained Jose Ribeiro , Director, International Markets at Lloyd’s

Serial Shocks Forcing World to ‘Think Long’

Thrown by a mounting series of extreme events over the past four years, global policymakers and investors are being urged to think long and prepare more systematically for the worst. Futurologists have rarely been taken more seriously by hard-nosed pragmatists managing economies and investment portfolios and it’s not hard to understand the sudden disquiet about how unprepared financial and political systems are for the ripple effects from often random shocks

Guernsey Seminar on Solvency II Assesses Rejection of ‘Equivalence’

Insurance professionals from the UK and Guernsey were told of the benefits that could result from the Island’s stance on Solvency II. Nearly 100 risk managers, brokers, lawyers, representatives from ratings agencies and insurance trade media journalists attended the Guernsey Solvency II seminar at the London Stock Exchange Tuesday, June 14.

UPDATE: U.N. Climate Change Agenda Agreed, Roadmap Set for 2011

Rich and poor nations overcame deep divisions on Friday to cut a deal that maps out U.N. climate negotiations for 2011, building on last December’s agreement in Mexico and hardening the focus on tougher issues.

Report: Engineers Knew Tsunami Could Overwhelm Fukushima Plant

Over the past two weeks, Japanese government officials and Tokyo Electric Power executives have repeatedly described the deadly combination of the most powerful quake in Japan’s history and the massive tsunami that followed as “soteigai,” or beyond expectations.

Utah Legislature Approves Legislation Restricting Accident Response Fees

Taking a proactive stance against “crash taxes,” Utah legislators have approving a measure to restrict emergency response organizations such as fire and police from charging fees to motorist or insurers for accident response costs.

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