Swiss Re reported 2009 fourth-quarter net income of 403 million Swiss Francs (CHF) ($373.2 million) reversing a net loss of CHF 1.7 billion ($1.6 billion) for the period the previous year.

Toronto-based Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited will acquire workers' compensation insurer Zenith National Insurance Corp. in Woodland Hills, Calif., in a $1.4 billion cash deal, the two companies said.

Richard Burr of North Carolina, the U.S. Senate Republican chief deputy whip, will address the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America membership March 4, the group announced.

An agreement reached between the three major insurance brokerages and New York, Illinois and Connecticut officials opens the door for the firms to resume taking contingent commissions.

New York State officials' action to let big insurance brokerages resume taking contingent commissions, and to ease a rule for reporting such fees is a big blow to insurance buyers, said a trade group representative.

Citing the effects of the recession and continued soft market conditions, Daytona Beach, Fla.-based insurance broker Brown & Brown Inc. reported net income in the fourth quarter dropped 29 percent.

Economists at the Inter-American Development Bank estimated that the cost of rebuilding Haiti could reach $14 billion--a figure far above early numbers provided by catastrophe modeling firms.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. insurance brokerage announced it has acquired Securitas Re of Sao Paulo, Brazil, from Estater Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.