Latest S&P Headlines

All the headlines from our S&P Topic Page, ordered by recency.

S&P: Bermuda Reinsurance Class Of 2001 Doing Well

Sep 12 2007 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has published a commentary, titled, “Bermuda Class Of 2001: Five Years On,” which examines the present state of recent Bermuda reinsurance...

Ratings Recap: Sovag, Codan, ACE (Hong Kong), Geneva Finance, Ceska

Sep 12 2007 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating of “B++” (Good) and the issuer credit rating (ICR) of “bbb” of Germany’s SCHWARZMEER UND OSTSEE Versicherungs-Aktiengesellschaft SOVAG...

Ratings Roundup: Agri-Business, Guarantee, Kanawha, HRH

Sep 12 2007 // A.M. Best Co. has placed the financial strength rating (FSR) of “B++” (Good) and the issuer credit rating (ICR) of “bbb” of Texas-based American Agri-Business Insurance Company (AA-BIC) under review...

S&P Sees Stability in Asia-Pacific Reinsurance Markets

Sep 11 2007 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services’ new report – “Asia-Pacific Reinsurance Markets Remain Stable Despite Softening” – indicates that ratings on global and domestic reinsurers in the...

S&P Rates Swiss Re Europe ‘AA-‘

Sep 11 2007 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has assigned its ‘AA-‘ counterparty credit and insurer financial strength ratings to Luxembourg-based composite reinsurer Swiss Re Europe S.A. with a stable...

SCOR Takes Over; S&P Rating Actions

Sep 10 2007 // France’s SCOR Group lost no time in taking over operations at newly-acquired Swiss reinsurer Converium AG, and putting its own people in top management positions.Converium’s former executives, including...

S&P Publishes Reinsurance Reports

Sep 10 2007 // Standard & Poor’s Rating Services has issued a series of reports on the global reinsurance industry, timed to appear as the annual Reinsurance Rendezvous opens its doors in Monte Carlo. The meeting, which...

S&P: North American Insurance Holding Cos. Face Challenges

Sep 10 2007 // In a new report – “North American Insurance Holding Companies Brace For Year-End 2007 -” Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services examines the status of the various insurance sectors: life,...

Rating Recaps: Radian, United Fire

Sep 5 2007 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services announced that its ‘A’ counterparty credit rating on Radian Group Inc. and its ‘AA’ counterparty credit and financial strength ratings on Radian’s...

Ratings Roundup: PZU, Fortis Corporate

Sep 5 2007 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has issued a release indicating that its ‘A-‘ long-term counterparty credit and insurer financial strength ratings on non-life insurer Powszechny Zaklad Ubezpieczen...

S&P Assigns ‘A Ratings to Unipol, Aurora; Other Actions on Restructuring

Sep 4 2007 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has assigned its ‘A-‘ long-term counterparty credit and insurer financial strength ratings to Compagnia Assicuratrice Unipol SpA (Unipol) and Aurora Assicurazioni...

S&P Revises Congregational & General Outlook on Capital Woes

Aug 30 2007 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has revised its outlook on U.K.-based P/C insurer Congregational & General Insurance PLC to negative from stable, “due to a swift and significant deterioration in...

S&P: Insurers’ Investments ‘On Solid Ground’ Despite Subprime Credit Crisis

Aug 30 2007 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has recently completed a survey covering all the insurance and reinsurance companies it rates globally to determine their exposure to U.S. subprime mortgage-related...

Ratings Recap: Sompo (U.S.); Clarendon, Kentucky National

Aug 30 2007 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of “A” (Excellent) and assigned an issuer credit rating (ICR) of “a” to New York-based Sompo Japan Insurance Company of America (SJA)....

S&P, Best Comment on PartnerRe’s EU Centralization Move

Aug 23 2007 // The rating agencies reacted positively to PartnerRe’s move to centralize all of its European operations in its Dublin-based subsidiary (See previous article).Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services assigned its...

Ratings Roundup: Hatherley, RenRe (debt) DR, Cathay Century

Aug 23 2007 // A.M. Best Co. has assigned a financial strength rating of “A-” (Excellent) and an issuer credit rating of “a-” to Bermuda-based Hatherley Insurance Ltd. with a stable outlook. “These ratings...

Rating Recap: LandAmerica

Aug 23 2007 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has revised its outlook on LandAmerica Financial Group Inc. (LFG) and its title insurance subsidiaries (collectively, LandAmerica) to negative from stable. S&P also...

S&P Forecasts a ‘Challenging Environment’ for Global P/C Insurers

Aug 22 2007 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has issued a report entitled “Global Multiline Insurers Brace For A Testing Second-Half 2007 As Property/Casualty Market Languishes,” on its RatingsDirect service....

Ratings Recap: Park, Fidelity National, Nationwide Mutual, Universal American

Aug 22 2007 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating of “A-” (Excellent) and assigned an issuer credit rating of “a-” to Park Assurance Company of Burlington, VT with a stable outlook....

S&P Publishes Bermuda FAQ Report

Aug 16 2007 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has published a FAQ (frequently asked questions) about the Bermuda insurers’ financial strength.S&P credit analyst Thomas Upton noted that “following a year in...