Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance advises SCOR in launch of pioneering USD 300 million catastrophe bond

International law firm Clifford Chance has advised global reinsurer SCOR on its successful sponsoring of a new catastrophe bond ("cat bond"), Atlas Capital UK 2018, with the company becoming the first reinsurer to use the new UK insurance-linked securities (ILS) regime to issue such a bond. As part of the transaction, Clifford Chance also advised the new issuer and acted as deal counsel.

The transaction, which received the approval of the PRA and the UK regulatory authorities, will provide SCOR with multi-year risk transfer capacity of USD 300 million to protect itself against named storms in the US, earthquakes in the US and Canada, and windstorms in Europe, while helping the Group diversify its capital protection tools.

Commenting on Atlas Capital UK 2018, Katherine Coates, insurance partner at Clifford Chance said, "This is a ground-breaking deal and, we believe, the first of many as the London market develops to accommodate a broad range of risks and structures. This transaction demonstrates that investors are comfortable with the UK regime including use of English law security and English law documentation."

The Clifford Chance team was led by partners Katherine Coates, Will Winterton and Cheng Li Yow in London, with partner Simeon Radcliff leading on UK capital markets law, partner Chris Davies advising on tax, and New York based partner Per Chilstrom leading on New York law matters.