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Proposed legislation denying tax deductions for reinsurance premiums paid to offshore affiliates will likely pass through Congress, a Bermuda executive predicted here yesterday, but he criticized the measure as a restriction of free trade.

Investigators contacted more than 888 employers, visited 435 work sites, and issued 70 Stop-Work Orders.

A proposed tax on offshore reinsurers will likely raise costs for crop insurers and could reduce even further the players in that market, a lobbyist for Bermuda insurers warned Monday.

The Deepwater Horizon Drilling Platform explosion and subsequent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was not a risk management issue, an insurance executive said.

An industry official will testify before Congress Wednesday that a steep hike in the damage limits from an offshore drilling accident could drive offshore drillers out of U.S. waters.

Munich Re estimates that its losses from the Feb. 27 earthquake in Chile will cost $1 billion, and with other natural catastrophe losses continuing to mount, the company said there is a need for price increases.

Cooper Gay Group and Swett & Crawford confirmed they are in "advanced deal discussions" on a merger that would create the world's largest independent global wholesale and reinsurance broker.

Despite the urgings of Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty and other state leaders, Gov. Charlie Crist has vetoed an omnibus property insurance bill passed at the close of the 2010 legislative session.