Guernsey, 16 August 2005 - White Rock, the Aon owned leader in protected cell companies (PCC’s), has announced the formation of White Rock Insurance (Europe) PCC Limited in order to provide corporate insurance buyers with more flexibility and choice around their purchase of terrorism cover.

The new company will enable buyers of terrorism insurance to determine their preferred level of risk retention or their preferred markets for terrorism exposures.   Buyers will also be able to realise premium savings arising out of cessions that would otherwise be paid away to the various governmental terrorism pools e.g. GAREAT in France and Pool Re in the UK.

Typically these pools follow a principle of anti-selection so that all related business written by a member insurer, for instance terrorism in France which is a compulsory cover, must be ceded to the relevant pool.  This situation is not always acceptable to clients who would prefer to retain some or all of these risks, or who have identified more favourable markets.

White Rock (Europe) has been formed without any membership to the various national pools, creating the opportunity for clients to self insure the terrorism risk and save the premiums that would otherwise have to be paid away as compulsory cessions to the pools.

Paul Sykes, a Director at White Rock, commented: “With the demand for terrorism insurance growing, the formation of White Rock Insurance (Europe) gives insurance buyers valuable new options in terms of how they retain risk and in the choice of markets they want to use, outside of the existing constraints of the various European terrorism pools. This will allow corporates to make premium savings where previously these would have been paid away to terrorism pools such as GAREAT in France or Pool Re in the UK.”

White Rock (Europe) began underwriting in July and is already being used by one of the world’s largest pharma-chemical companies. The company has paid-up capital of Euro 3.5 million and is licensed by the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission to write all classes of business within the EEA, except for Motor Liability and life business.  In addition White Rock (Europe) can issue licensed paper into the European Economic Area (‘EEA’) territories with access to the reinsurance markets and non-EEA captives.  Alternatively it offers highly flexible low cost risk retention cell captives with direct-writing capability.

Notes to Editors

White Rock is a division of Aon Captive Services Group, Aon Corporation captive and alternative risk financing

White Rock (Europe) and Protected Cell Companies

White Rock (Europe) will:

Allow the use of cells by clients who wish to have a captive facility to retain their risks without the need to set-up their own separate company and without incurring some of the corresponding costs.

Front into European Economic Area territories on behalf of clients’ captives and/or reinsurers.

White Rock (Europe) is a Protected Cell Company, which is one legal entity that may be divided into separate parts (or “cells”), which are legally ring-fenced from one another.  Therefore each insured’s business is legally segregated from all other cells in the PCC.


About Aon
Aon Corporation (www.aon.com) is a leading provider of risk management services, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, human capital and management consulting, and specialty insurance underwriting. The company employs approximately 51,000 professionals in its 600 offices in more than 120 countries.  Backed by broad resources, industry knowledge and technical expertise, Aon professionals help a wide range of clients develop effective risk management and workforce productivity solutions.

This press release contains certain statements relating to future results, which are forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  These forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from either historical or anticipated results, depending on a variety of factors.  Potential factors that could impact results include the general economic conditions in different countries around the world, fluctuations in global equity and fixed income markets, exchange rates, rating agency actions, resolution of regulatory issues, including those related to compensation arrangements with underwriters, pension funding, ultimate paid claims may be different from actuarial estimates and actuarial estimates may change over time, changes in commercial property and casualty markets and commercial premium rates, the competitive environment, the actual costs of resolution of contingent liabilities and other loss contingencies, and the heightened level of potential errors and omissions liability arising from placements of complex policies and sophisticated reinsurance arrangements in an insurance market in which insurer reserves are under pressure.  Further information concerning the Company and its business, including factors that potentially could materially affect the Company’s financial results, is contained in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.