Latest S&P Headlines

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

S&P Rates Liberty Mutual (U.K.) ‘A+’

May 31 2002 // Standard & Poor’s announced that it has assigned its single-‘A’-plus financial strength rating to Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. (UK) Ltd. (LMUK) “based on an explicit guarantee of LMUK’s...

S&P Affirms ‘AAA’ Ratings on Two XL Units, Lowers ERC to ‘AA+’

May 30 2002 // Standard & Poor’s announced that it has affirmed its triple-‘A’ ratings on two units of Bermuda-based XL Capital, XL Financial Assurance Ltd. (XLFA) and XL Capital Assurance Inc. (XLCA), and has...

Standard and Poor Places Travelers’ Gulf Cos. on Negative Watch

May 30 2002 // Standard & Poor’s affirmed its single-‘A’-minus counterparty credit and senior debt ratings on Travelers Property Casualty Corp. (Travelers) and its double-‘A’-minus counterparty credit...

U.S. P/C Rates Still Increasing

May 27 2002 // Although the events of Sept. 11 accelerated the increase in U.S. commercial real estate insurance premiums, property and casualty insurance costs had already begun rising in 2000, independent of terrorism-coverage costs,...

S&P Lowers United Fire

May 27 2002 // Standard & Poor’s lowered to “A” its counterparty credit and financial strength ratings on the members of United Fire Group and its affiliate United Life Insurance Co. and changed the...

S&P Maintains Negative Outlook on Japan’s P/C Insurers

May 23 2002 // Standard & Poor’s announced that its outlook on Japan’s non-life insurance industry remains negative following the release this week of insurers’ financial results for fiscal 2001. “Earnings...

S&P Downgrades Zenith National Co. to “BB”

May 22 2002 // Standard & Poor’s said it lowered its counterparty credit rating on Zenith National Insurance Corp. (ZNT) to double-‘B’-plus from triple-‘B’-minus and its ratings on ZNT’s...

S&P Review Finds U.K. P/C Market Stable

May 21 2002 // Standard & Poor’s has affirmed its stable outlook for the U.K.’s domestic non-life insurance industry, following a review of the financial strength characteristics, indicating that “the majority of...

S&P Affirms Everest Re (U.S.) ‘A-‘ Rating, Outlook Positive

May 21 2002 // Standard & Poor’s said that it has affirmed its single-‘A’-minus counterparty credit and senior debt ratings on U.S.-based Everest Reinsurance Holdings Inc., an intermediary holding company that is...

Standard and Poor Takes State Farm off Watch, Lowers Ratings

May 20 2002 // Standard & Poor’s has removed from CreditWatch and lowered the counterparty credit and financial strength ratings on State Farm’s core operating units to double-‘A’-plus from...

Standard and Poor Says No Immediate Rating Action on Hartford Financial Services Group Inc.

May 17 2002 // Standard & Poor’s said it would not take any immediate rating actions on Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. or its double-‘A’ rated property/casualty companies following the announcement that the...

Standard and Poor’s: U.S. P/C Insurance Rates to Continue Increase on Renewals

May 17 2002 // While the events of Sept. 11 accelerated the increase in U.S. commercial real estate insurance premiums, property and casualty insurance costs had already begun rising in 2000, independent of terrorism-coverage costs,...

S&P Warns Insurers on Disputing Financial Guarantees

May 15 2002 // Standard & Poor’s has issued a statement warning that insurers who dispute claims payments on financial guarantee contracts, even in fraudulent cases, could now have their counterparty credit, insurer financial...

S&P Removes Lloyd’s from CreditWatch, Affirms ‘A’ Rating

May 14 2002 // Standard & Poor’s announced that it has removed the Lloyd’s insurance market from CreditWatch, where it was placed on Sept. 20, 2001, and has affirmed its single-‘A’ insurer financial strength...

State Fund Withdraws from Best’s Rating Process

May 13 2002 // “In essence, we’d like to assure all of our policyholders that we are solvent, that we’re still financially strong,” said Jim Zelinski, spokesperson for California State Compensation Insurance Fund,...

S&P Affirms ‘AA+’ Ratings on Australia’s NRMA

May 6 2002 // Standard & Poor’s has affirmed its double-‘A’-plus insurer financial strength and counterparty credit ratings on Australian general insurer NRMA Insurance Ltd. (NRMA) and its New Zealand subsidiary,...

S&P Lowers PAULA Insurance Co. Rating to ‘R’

May 2 2002 // Standard & Poor’s said it revised its financial strength rating on PAULA Insurance Co. to ‘R’ because of insolvency. On April 26, 2002, PAULA Insurance Co. was placed under an order of conservation...

S&P Affirms St. Paul Cos. Inc. and Subsidiaries Ratings

Apr 26 2002 // Standard & Poor’s has affirmed its single-‘A’-minus long-term counterparty credit rating on St Paul Cos. Inc. following the company’s announcement of first-quarter 2002 pretax operating...

S&P Assigns Calif.-Based Alistar ‘R’ FSR

Apr 23 2002 // Standard & Poor’s has assigned its ‘R’ financial strength rating to Alistar Insurance Co. after learning that the California Department of Insurance applied for and was granted a conservation order...

S&P Negative on Future of French P/C Insurance Market

Apr 22 2002 // Standard & Poor’s announced that it has a divided outlook for the French insurance market, “taking a negative view of its non-life sector and heralding a stable future for the country’s life...