Reinsurance

XL Re Ltd. is the first reinsurance company from Bermuda to operate in Florida without having to put up 100 percent collateral.

The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) said it has reached an agreement with a second reinsurer to participate in the state's market under modified regulatory terms.

Agent associations have joined the National Crop Insurance Services' (NCIS) criticisms of the Obama administration's decision to cut the federal crop insurance program by $6 billion over the next 10 years.

Krystalle Tobin was named chief financial officer for Hamilton, Bermuda-based international specialty insurer Hiscox for its Bermuda business.

A proposed tax on offshore reinsurers will likely raise costs for crop insurers and could reduce even further the players in that market, a lobbyist for Bermuda insurers warned Monday.

Munich Re estimates that its losses from the Feb. 27 earthquake in Chile will cost $1 billion, and with other natural catastrophe losses continuing to mount, the company said there is a need for price increases.