What’s new: In brief (October 05, 2004)

The 2004 recipient of the Don Stuart Award, risk management’s highest honor, is Joseph Restoule. Restoule, accompanied by wife Patti, accepted the award Tuesday at the RIMS Canada Conference in Winnipeg. Restoule is director of risk & insurance for NOVA Chemicals Corp., a position he has held for 13 years. He has also been involved with RIMS in Canada and internationally for 14 years, and currently serves as vice president strategic initiatives for the RIMS board. Among his many accomplishments includes founding the William H. McGannon Foundation for Advanced Risk Management, founding the National Education Committee of RIMS Canada, and over 10 years as a risk management instructor at the University of Calgary.

Converium AG and two executives is facing lawsuits from shareholders over alleged “misrepresentation” of its loss reserves. The actions follow Converium’s disclosure that it would contribute substantially to its reserves for prior year claims in its U.S. casualty book the company also placed its U.S. reinsurance arm in run-off and effected a US$420 million capital-raising initiative. One of the suits, filed by New York law firm Lasky & Rifkind, cites the drop in share value of moer than US$11 or 44%, as well as negative actions taken by rating agencies against Converium.

The Women in Insurance Cancer Crusade is holding its 7th annual “Learning Breakfast” on November 3 at the Fairmont Royal York in Toronto. The breakfast features guest speaker Mike Ramsden, who inspired others to climb Mount Kilimanjaro with him earlier this year to raise funds for breast cancer research, and will take about “taking cancer awareness to new heights”. For more information, visit www.wicc.ca.