Castelnau Group Regulatory News (CGL)

23 Mar 2005 09:30

Catlin Group Limited23 March 2005 FINANCIAL SERVICES AUTHORITY AUTHORISES CATLIN INSURANCE COMPANY (UK) LTD LONDON - Catlin Group Limited ('CGL': London Stock Exchange), the internationalproperty and casualty insurer and reinsurer, announces that the UK FinancialServices Authority has approved the formation of Catlin Insurance Company (UK)Ltd ('Catlin UK'). Catlin UK is a wholly owned subsidiary of Catlin Insurance Company Ltd. ofBermuda ('Catlin Bermuda'). The new company will underwrite all businesspreviously underwritten by Catlin Bermuda's UK branch office, which wasestablished in December 2003 and which also traded under the name of Catlin UK.The company will begin writing business on 1 May 2005. As a UK domiciled and FSA regulated company, Catlin UK will be permitted tounderwrite business from any member country of the European Economic Area('EEA'). A.M. Best Company today assigned a financial strength rating of 'A' (Excellent)to Catlin UK, the same rating assigned to Catlin Bermuda and the CatlinSyndicate at Lloyd's of London. The new company will underwrite all classes of business written by the CatlinGroup in London. Catlin UK specialises in underwriting professional indemnity,property, general liability, directors' and officers' liability and commercialcrime coverages for UK policyholders. Catlin UK's initial capital is £68 million (US$130.6 million), which is fullypaid. Catlin UK is ultimately supported by its parent company, Catlin Bermuda.This support is demonstrated by a whole account quota share reinsurance treatyby which the majority of Catlin UK's business will be reinsured by CatlinBermuda. The stockholders' equity of the Catlin Group at 31 December 2004amounted to US$971.2 (£506.8 million). Stephen Catlin, chief executive of Catlin Group Limited and chairman of CatlinUK, said: "The establishment of Catlin UK is an integral element of the Catlin Group'sstrategy to offer the maximum flexibility to brokers and their clients. CatlinUK enjoyed a strong first year of operations as a branch office of CatlinBermuda, underwriting nearly US$200 million in gross premiums. The establishmentof a UK subsidiary of Catlin Bermuda will allow us to build on this strong baseby allowing Catlin UK to write business in European nations." - ends - For more information contact: Media Relations:James Burcke, Head of Communications Tel: +44 (0)20 7458 5710 Mobile: +44 (0)7958 767 738 E-mail: james.burcke@catlin.com Liz Morley, The Maitland Consultancy Tel: +44 (0)20 7379 5151 E-mail: emorley@maitland.co.uk Investor Relations:William Spurgin, Head of InvestorRelations Tel: +44 (0)20 7458 5726 Mobile: +44 (0)7710 314 365 E-mail: william.spurgin@catlin.com Notes to editors: 1. The Catlin Group, headquartered in Bermuda, is an internationalspecialist property/casualty insurer and reinsurer writing more than 30 classesof business worldwide. Catlin wrote gross premiums of US$1.43 billion andreported record net income of US$154.1 million in 2004. Catlin shares are traded on the London Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: 'CGL'). 2. The Catlin Group consists of three underwriting platforms - theCatlin Syndicate at Lloyd's of London, Catlin Bermuda and Catlin UK - as well asother offices located in the UK, US, Germany, Singapore, Malaysia and Australia. 3. The European Economic Area includes the member nations of theEuropean Community (Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania,Luxembourg, Malta, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain,Sweden and the United Kingdom), plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. 4. Exchange rate: £1=US$1.92. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange