issued by Chile's largest domestic and international airline, Lan Chile.

The Bermuda-based insurer, a member of the Zurich Financial Services Group, has entered into a surety agreement to credit enhance $60 million of 7-year credit card receivable notes issued by the airline in a private placement executed by Merrill Lynch.

The surety would see Centre Solutions pay the shortfall in scheduled principal and interest in the event of a payment default by Lan Chile.

And the notes have been assigned an "AA'' rating by Duff & Phelps.

It is one of the first structured finance transactions completed in South America this year and represents Centre Solutions' first foray into Latin and South American credit enhanced structured finance.

Chief executive officer David Wasserman said: "The transaction we have just completed with Lan Chile is indicative of how structured finance and risk management can be used to greatly enhance capital-raising transactions, particularly in the global arena.'' Centre Solutions -- with offices also in Dublin Hong Kong, London, New York, San Francisco, Sydney and Zurich -- is a full-service provider of customised insurance, reinsurance, structure finance and risk management programmes.