Argus Insurance Company Limited (AIC) looks set to be transformed next month into Argus Group Holdings Limited as the AIC Group restructures its organisation.

AIC shareholders have been notified that a meeting is scheduled for November 24 at the Bermuda National Gallery and the directors of AIC have recommended to shareholders vote in favour of the proposed reorganisation.

The growth of the AIC Group in recent years has led the directors to conclude that the reorganisation will create improvements in efficiency, corporate governance and compliance with regulators.

?At present AIC is a publicly traded company on the Bermuda Stock Exchange and AIC is the parent company of the Argus Group of Companies,? Argus president and chief executive officer Gerald Simons said.

?It is intended that Argus Group Holdings Limited will instead become the parent of all the subsidiaries in the Group.

?At present the board of AIC is the same as the boards of the subsidiary companies. In future, the boards of the subsidiaries will be smaller than the main board and be comprised of a few directors from the board of AIC and members of senior management.?

?As a consequence, directors will be more closely involved in and be aware of what is happening in the operating subsidiaries therefore improving corporate governance and efficiency.?

James King, chairman of the board of directors of AIC, said each management group will have clearly identified reporting requirements. ?In future the boards of the subsidiaries will made up of members of Argus Group Holdings as well as executive management and in some cases third party interests but as the boards will be smaller they will be more focused on the subsidiaries,? Mr. Simons said.

The growth of the AIC Group has not only enabled it to become more diversified but more financially sound.

The group now has over $1.2 billion in assets under it control and net earnings for the year ended March 31 were $17.7 million, up 6.8 percent over the previous year. As of March, AIC had 1,013 shareholders, 90.4 percent of whom are Bermudian, holding 82.3 percent of the issued shares. Existing shareholders will be registered as the holders of shares of Argus Group Holdings and an application has been made to the BSX for the listing of the shares.