After 23 years Bermuda insurance and financial services company Mutual Risk Management is undergoing a changing of the guard with its now former chairman and CEO Robert Mulderig stepping down from the troubled venture.

The company's 8-K filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on October 18 revealed that Mr. Mulderig was retiring from Mutual Risk (MRM) - which was set up by his father, the late insurance veteran Francis Mulderig, as a subsidiary of then Aneco Re - after the company was unable to secure an extension of its directors' and officers' (D&O) liability insurance.

The company's future has been under threat since it reported close to $100 million in losses last year after its US insurance companies - Legion and Villanova - ran into troubled financial waters because of an inability to recover reinsurance it claimed to be owed. The loss prompted rating downgrades and put MRM in violation of certain debenture agreements, in default on its bank credit facility and its letter of credit facility.

The company's woes continued when it was delisted after a decade - and as one of the first Bermuda insurers to list on a US exchange - on the New York Stock Exchange as its stock dropped to mere pennies in value. In addition, Legion and Villanova were put into "rehabilitation" by state regulators, or essentially put into run-off.

In the interim months the company has also been hit by a wave of class action lawsuits from disgruntled investors and additional legal actions by clients trying to secure money that had been paid to the company's subsidiary group, the IPC Companies.

Last month's filing also reported that other board members, including Roger Dailey, Arthur Engel, Jerry Rosenbloom, Norman Rosenthal, Joseph Sargent and Richard Turner were also quitting as a result of the company's difficulties in securing D&O coverage.

Yesterday however both Mr. Mulderig and the man taking up the company's reins, David Ezekiel, said Mr. Mulderig's retirement was by choice and took exception to a report in Tuesday's Royal Gazette that he had been "axed".

Mr. Ezekiel, the long-time CEO of captive management company International Advisory Services - a company that was set up more than 20 years ago and bought out by MRM in 1998 - became CEO of the group's operating companies after it said earlier in the year that it would undergo restructuring.

The move, which stripped out the group's service units from the insurance ventures, was set up as MRM Services (now to be named IAS Park) as a means of wiping out the company's debt and to preserve value in the company's services units.

Mr. Ezekiel is now to be CEO and chairman of MRM as well as the services group, IAS Park.

Although Mr. Ezekiel said retirement had been Mr. Mulderig's choice, he conceded that it was the result of the company's troubled circumstances: ""His retirement was prompted by the changing nature of the situation we have (within the company).

"The filing stated that we were unable to obtain D&O coverage, and at this stage, that led to his (Mr. Mulderig's) decision to retire. He was acting in the best interest of the company. But it was Rob (Mulderig), by himself, and given the various factors that he had to take into account, that came to this decision."

Although the SEC filing said Mr. Mulderig's retirement would become effective from November 1, Mr. Ezekiel said Mr. Mulderig would stay on for an unspecified period to help with the transition. After that, he said he expected Mr. Mulderig to find "some new avenue in the local business community".

Yesterday Mr. Mulderig told The Royal Gazette the report that he had been axed was "unfair" and claimed that there had not been any attempts by the paper to contact him on the matter ahead of going to print on Monday.

But he added that news of his stepping aside should not come as a surprise: "It was clear that I would step down once the scheme of arrangement (restructuring) had taken place.

"The operating companies (MRM Services) had been under the management of David Ezekiel for some time - and he has done a good job - and they don't need me," he said.

Although his resignation had already become effective, Mr. Mulderig spoke with The Royal Gazette yesterday from Pennsylvania where he was attending hearings into the matter of MRM's US insurance companies. He added that he would stay with the company on as long as he could "help in any way" especially in negotiations to bring Legion and Villanova out of rehabilitation.

Mr. Mulderig continued: "It was my interest to get the company reorganised and ensure there was as little disruption to jobs (some 160) in Bermuda as possible. And we have done that - now there is not a role for me..."

As for his future, Mr. Mulderig said he had no immediate plans but said he expected to eventually take on a "challenging and exciting" position within the local insurance sector: "I am a Bermudian insurance executive with a lot of experience," he concluded.