SVB has revealed plans to pull out of the US liability reinsurance market.
The company's chairman, Matthew Fosh, announced this morning that the decision was intended to clarify its reserve position.
An SVB spokesman said: "On 26 November the Board of SVB announced that the managed capacity of the SVB syndicates for 2003 would be £438m.
"This included an increased premium limit participation of £406m for our underwriting subsidiary SVB Underwriting, an advance of over 9% on 2002.
"The Board of SVB Syndicates Limited, the managing agency subsidiary of SVB, has now completed a final review of underwriting plans for next year. The principal feature of this review has been a decision to withdraw from underwriting US liability reinsurance.
"In 2002 the syndicates' premium income from this class will amount to £50m. The board of SVBS believes that this premium income can be replaced with other more attractive business given the exceptional conditions prevailing in direct insurance markets."
