巴菲特向瑞士再保险索赔10亿美元

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathawayis claiming as much as $1bn in damages from Swiss Re, the reinsurer it propped up during the financial crisis with an emergency capital injection.

沃伦·巴菲特(Warren Buffett)的伯克希尔-哈撒韦公司(Berkshire Hathaway)向瑞士再保险公司(Swiss Re)提出高达10亿美元索赔。在金融危机期间，伯克希尔向瑞士再保险公司紧急注资，支持了这家保险商。

Swiss Re quietly disclosed in its 104-page earnings report last month that Berkshire was making various allegations that the reinsurer said were “without merit.

瑞士再保险公司在上个月发布的104页的盈利报告中，静悄悄地透露了伯克希尔所作的各种指控，这家再保险商表示，这些指控是“没有理由的。

The dispute relates to losses Berkshire has endured in its deal to provide what Swiss Re described as retrocession –– in effect, reinsurance for reinsurance – to the Zurich-based company’s US life and health arm. Berkshire last year sustained a $642m pre-tax underwriting loss arising from the arrangement.

在一笔交易中，伯克希尔为这家总部位于苏黎世的公司的美国人寿与健康部门的再保险业务进行再保险，瑞士再保险公司称之为“转分保(retrocession)。争议的焦点是伯克希尔在这笔交易中蒙受的损失。去年伯克希尔在这一安排中蒙受了6.42亿美元税前承保损失。

The damages claim marks an apparent souring of an erstwhile close relationship between Europe’s sixth biggest insurance group by market capitalisation and Mr Buffett’s conglomerate.

这起损害赔偿金纠纷标志着，按市值计欧洲第六大保险集团与巴菲特旗下综合企业之间此前密切的关系明显恶化。

Berkshire rode to the rescue of the reinsurer in 2009, supplying it with SFr3bn worth of funding after the reinsurer had endured heavy asset writedowns. The two parties agreed on the retrocession deal a year later, which limits Swiss Re exposure to life insurance contracts it wrote before 2004.

2009年，在这家再保险商承受了大规模资产减记以后，伯克希尔出手相助，提供了30亿瑞士法郎的融资。一年后双方达成“转分保协议，限制了瑞士再保险公司对其在2004年以前承保的人寿保单的风险敞口。

But in its 2011 annual report, Berkshire warned that “mortality rates have continued to exceed the assumptions we made and increased its estimated liabilities for future policyholder benefits as a result.

但在其2011年年报中，伯克希尔警告称，“死亡率继续超出我们的预期，因此提高了对未来保单持有人给付的预估赔偿责任。

Equity analysts interpreted the statements from the two parties as Berkshire alleging that there were shortcomings in information supplied by Swiss Re. It is claiming damages of between $500m and $1bn.

股票分析人士的解读是，从双方的声明看，伯克希尔指控瑞士再保险公司提供的信息存在缺陷。伯克希尔索赔5亿至10亿美元损失。