Swiss Re

Norwich Union has signed a major outsourcing contract which will see the administration of almost three million life and pensions policies in the future handled by reinsurer Swiss Re.

Swiss Re has announced it is acquiring GE Life for £465m and anticipates completion of the deal by the end of 2006.

Axa and Swiss Re are believed to have made an exploratory £8bn takeover bid approach for Scottish Widows to its parent, Lloyds TSB, reports the Scotsman .

Some of Britain's biggest life insurers should be freed from "crude" solvency rules which force them to maintain huge reserves, according to a report by the Financial Services Authority out this week, says the Guardian .

The FTSE 100 is down 33.3 points, or 0.57%, to 5,846, with mining stocks the biggest drag as copper prices declined.

GENERAL ELECTRIC has revived plans to sell its UK life insurance arm, reports The Daily Telegraph .

AXA, THE FRENCH insurance giant, is understood to be in talks to buy Thinc Destini, the fast-growing financial advice group, for around £170m.

Swiss Re has announced it is staying in the guaranteed critical illness market following the closing of its acquisition of GE Insurance Solutions.

Income protection products need a radical overhaul in order to prevent the concept of these insurance policies from disappearing from the market, suggests the latest report marketwatch report from Swiss Re.

The head of financial services at Swiss Re is to step down after eight years at the company, in order to set up his own investment fund.