The Countrywide network has launched CountrywidePlus, designed to support member brokers expand their business and boost their income by providing expert assistance.
Through CountrywidePlus, significantly better commissions are available from a panel of leading insurers, as well as a wide range of other business services including HR, IT, and Compliance.
Current members will have the option to […]

America’s subprime mortgage crisis has reached an unprecedented level according to a report released this week.
Navigant Consulting reveal in a report that more federal lawsuits have been filed as a result of subprime mortgages than were filed during the savings and loans (S&L) crisis of the 1980s and 90s.
S&L lawsuits in the early 1990s totalled […]

Bank of America yesterday reported that it has agreed terms to acquire struggling financial services provider Merrill Lynch in a deal worth $50 billion.
The all-stock transaction will see Bank of America pay a 70% premium on Merrill Lynch’s book value.
The deal sees Bank of America trading 0.8595 shares of its common stock for every Merrill […]

Cathie Bruce, distribution and customer service director with Groupama Insurances, is to move within the UK Group to take up a new position.
Bruce is to become managing director of specialist broking subsidiary ChoiceQuote Insurance Services Limited, acquired by Groupama earlier in the year.
She will be based at the firm’s head office in Liverpool, and will […]

Randall & Quilter (R&Q) has acquired KMS, a London-based provider of insurance run-off services.
The acquisition has been made through KMS holding company, Continuum Holdings, for ￡1.78 million in cash.
R&Q’s is an AIM-listed run-off management service provider that acquires solvent insurance companies in run-off and KMS is a London-based provider of insurance run-off services.
KMS posted pre-tax […]

Thomas Buberl has been named by Zurich Financial Services Group as the new chief executive officer of Zurich Switzerland.
He leaves behind AXA’s Swiss insurance branch, AXA Winterthur, where he had a seat on the Executive Board and was head of Distribution.
Buberl is to join Zurich on 1 November of this year, and after a two […]

Recent research from price comparison website, moneysupermarket.com, has revealed that motorists who are keen to offset their carbon emission by buying eco-friendly car insurance may end up paying 105% more for cover than with a standard policy.
According to the website, premiums on hybrid cars such as the environmentally-friendly Honda Civic, can vary enormously.
For example, while […]

Navigators announced this week that it is now operating in China, offering underwriting insurance coverage to reinsurance businesses in the country through its Lloyd’s syndicate.
Lloyd’s Syndicate 1221 offers coverage in China through the Navigators Underwriting Division of Lloyd’s Reinsurance Company (China) Ltd (LRCCL).
It is the fifth Lloyd’s syndicate to establish a presence in Shanghai. […]