Arch Reinsurance Ltd. Announces Formation of Arch Underwriters (Gulf) Limited

HAMILTON, Bermuda-Tuesday, February 28th 2017 [ ME NewsWire ]

(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Arch Reinsurance Ltd. , Bermuda (Arch Re), is pleased to announce the formation of Arch Underwriters (Gulf) Limited (AUGL) to be based in the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC), UAE, subject to final approval from the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA). AUGL will have underwriting authority for Arch Re, which holds a financial strength rating of ‘A+’ from Standard & Poor’s.

AUGL will supplement Arch Re’s existing operating entity in the DIFC, Gulf Reinsurance Limited (Gulf Re). Arch Re completed the acquisition of Gulf Re in May 2015 from its joint venture partner, the Gulf Investment Corporation (GIC). As part of that process Arch Re put in place the following two reinsurance arrangements to demonstrate its full commitment to Gulf Re:

    A Loss Portfolio Transfer Agreement whereby Arch Re assumes 100% of all liabilities in respect of business written by Gulf Re prior to 30 September 2014.
    A Quota Share Agreement whereby Arch Re assumes 90% of all liabilities in respect of business written by Gulf Re after 1 October 2014.

All existing Gulf Re clients and brokers will be provided the opportunity to renew, through AUGL, with the more highly rated paper of Arch Re Bermuda.

“When we stepped back and considered the best value proposition to Gulf Re’s GCC clients of, it made sense to provide Arch Re’s A+ rated balance sheet directly to our cedants, given Arch Re’s 100% ownership of Gulf Re, “ said Shankar Majrekar, AUGL’s Senior Executive Officer.

AUGL will benefit from the local knowledge and experience of the current Gulf Re underwriting team, which will continue to service all the in-force business of Gulf Re in a seamless manner from its offices situated in the DIFC. AUGL’s objective will be to maintain and build on existing client relationships.

Gulf Re’s paid up capital of USD 70 million and DFSA license will be maintained by Arch Re until all policyholder liabilities are settled.

About Arch Reinsurance Ltd.

Arch Reinsurance Ltd. is a member of Arch Capital Group Ltd., a Bermuda-based company that provides insurance and reinsurance on a worldwide basis through its wholly owned subsidiaries. For more information, visit www.archcapgroup.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a "safe harbor" for forward−looking statements. This release or any other written or oral statements made by or on behalf of Arch Capital Group Ltd. and its subsidiaries may include forward−looking statements, which reflect our current views with respect to future events and financial performance. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in or incorporated by reference in this release are forward−looking statements.

Forward−looking statements can generally be identified by the use of forward−looking terminology such as "may," "will," "expect," "intend," "estimate," "anticipate," "believe" or "continue" or their negative or variations or similar terminology. Forward−looking statements involve our current assessment of risks and uncertainties. Actual events and results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements. A non-exclusive list of the important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements includes the following: adverse general economic and market conditions; increased competition; pricing and policy term trends; fluctuations in the actions of rating agencies and our ability to maintain and improve our ratings; investment performance; the loss of key personnel; the adequacy of our loss reserves, severity and/or frequency of losses, greater than expected loss ratios and adverse development on claim and/or claim expense liabilities; greater frequency or severity of unpredictable natural and man-made catastrophic events; the impact of acts of terrorism and acts of war; changes in regulations and/or tax laws in the United States or elsewhere; our ability to successfully integrate, establish and maintain operating procedures as well as integrate the businesses we have acquired or may acquire into the existing operations; changes in accounting principles or policies; material differences between actual and expected assessments for guaranty funds and mandatory pooling arrangements; availability and cost to us of reinsurance to manage our gross and net exposures; the failure of others to meet their obligations to us; and other factors identified in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The foregoing review of important factors should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read in conjunction with other cautionary statements that are included herein or elsewhere. All subsequent written and oral forward−looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward−looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Contacts

Arch Reinsurance Ltd.
Maamoun Rajeh, (441) 278-9212


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