S&P Affirms Centre Solutions Ratings; Withdrawn at Company Request

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services announced that it has removed its ‘BBB-‘ ratings on Centre Solutions (Bermuda) Ltd. and related operating companies from CreditWatch, where they were placed on Sept. 16, 2003. S&P also affirmed the ratings and assigned a stable outlook, and then subsequently withdrew them at the company’s request.

S&P noted, however, that “the one exception is Centre Reinsurance (U.S.) Ltd. (CRUS), which retains its ‘A+’ financial strength rating and stable outlook.” S&P explained that “this is the result of an explicit support agreement in the form of a guarantee from Zurich Insurance Company to CRUS that has been in place since March 2004. The guarantee covers all payment obligations of Centre Reinsurance (U.S.) Ltd. arising under the terms of any and all insurance and reinsurance contracts issued by CRUS.”

S&P listed the companies affected by the withdrawal as follows:
Centre Solutions (Bermuda) Ltd. NR BBB-/Watch Dev
Centre Life Insurance Co. NR BBB-/Watch Dev
Centre Reinsurance International Co. NR BBB-/Watch Dev
Centre Reinsurance Ltd. NR BBB-/Watch Dev
Centre Insurance International Co. NR BBB-/Watch Dev
Centre Solutions (U.S.) Ltd. NR BBB-/Watch Dev
Centre Insurance Co. NR BBB-/Watch Dev
ZC Specialty Insurance Co. NR BBB-/Watch Dev
Centre Solutions (Asia) Ltd. NR BBB-/Watch Dev
CentreLine Reinsurance Ltd. NR BBB-/Watch Dev