Converium scraps plans to boost Converium Insurance capacity

In the wake of a ratings downgrade, Coverium says it will not add additional capacity to it Converium Insurance (North America) Inc. operations to offset the run-off of Coverium Reinsurance (North America).
This means effectively the company will no longer write reinsurance business in the U.S. the Canadian branch of Converium Re has already been placed into run-off. Converium Reinsurance N.A. president Gary Prestia has resigned, to be succeeded by general counsel Corcoran Byrne.
Converium says its recently announced US$420 million capital-raising venture will be used to strengthen capitalization of Zurich-based Converium AG and Cologne-based Converium Ruckversicherung AG.
These action follow the decision by rating agencies A.M. Best and Standard & Poor’s to downgrade Coverium.