One of the Island's newest insurers - AXIS Speciality Limited - has secured $400 million in additional credit.

AXIS was formed in October, 2001 following the void in capacity after the September 11 terrorist attacks. The company's focus is on reinsurance and speciality lines of insurance.

The company was initially capitalised with $1.7 billion through a private placement equity offering led by Trident II, L.P., a private equity fund managed by MMC Capital, Inc., a subsidiary of Marsh and maclennan.

AXIS announced yesterday that it had entered into a $400 million credit agreement with a syndicate of lenders. J.P. Morgan Securities Inc.. acted as lead arranger and bookrunner while Barclays Bank PLC, Comerica Bank, ING Bank N.V. and Wachovia Bank each acted as co-syndication agents.

The agreement is for an unsecured 364 day revolving facility that allows AXIS to issue up to $375 million of letters of credit and borrow up to $50 million for general corporate purposes with any combination of utilisation being capped at $400 million.

AXIS president and CEO John Charman said: "We are extremely pleased with the quality and caliber of the banks that participated in the syndication. We firmly believe that their commitments to AXIS are a further testament to our goal of establishing ourselves as one of the premier global speciality underwriting businesses. This facility is yet another tool that we can use to effectively service our client base."