There's a new name in the Bermuda insurance and reinsurance market: Chartis.

As part of a rebranding initiative for the domestic and international property/casualty arm of the American International Group (AIG), some of the Bermuda companies are changing their names.

Three of the Bermuda companies have so far been identified:

¦ American International Company Ltd. will become Chartis Bermuda Limited.

¦ American International Underwriters Overseas, Ltd. will become Chartis Overseas Limited; and

¦ American International Underwriters Overseas Association will become Chartis Overseas Association.

Other Bermuda-based companies will follow suit in due course once applications to do so have been approved.

Perhaps the most noticeable change for the majority of Bermudians will be visible from Richmond Road: the American International Building, which opened for business in the summer of 1971, will become The Chartis Building. The building next door, put up by AIG, that houses Allied World, will not change its name.

The changes "are part of a programme whereby we are seeking to separate out AIG's property and casualty operations, both in North America and throughout the world, under a single banner company," said George Cubbon, the chief executive officer of AIG's Bermuda operations.

"The intention will be, at some point, that Chartis will either be sold or have an initial public offering or some other liquidity event, with the proceeds ultimately going to pay down the AIG debt to the US Federal Reserve Bank of New York."

The word "chartis" means "map" and derives, ultimately, from the Greek word meaning "papyrus". The idea of a map is appropriate as what was AIG charts its way towards a new future, and in terms of AIG's history of entering new territories in what was at the time an uncharted field of endeavour.

"The majority of the work we do here is in support of AIG's overseas foreign general business, which will become part of Chartis," Mr. Cubbon explained.

"We also reinsure many of AIG's life companies. As part of the process the group is undergoing, some of the AIG companies are to be sold, so we in Bermuda are in the process of unwinding some of the relationships between the group companies.

"Given AIG's size and worldwide reach, the relationships across divisional lines are manifold."

The name changes have begun, although each can be a lengthy and complicated process.

"I thought that there'd be a 'big bang' and that things would change overnight, but that's not the case," Mr. Cubbon said.

"First, you apply for and obtain permission from the Registrar of Companies, but then the two names can exist in tandem for as long as is necessary to complete the changeover. For example, it's not possible to change all the contracts overnight."

The intention is to change the company's name on each contract, by an addendum or by novation, at the contract's next anniversary. For evergreen contracts, a process of change will be carried out over the next several months.

All Bermuda employees of the company will become employees of Chartis, transferring to the new company with all their accumulated rights to pensions and so forth moving with them.

With this newspaper carrying a report that AIG had reduced its global staff by 10,000 to about 108,000, Mr. Cubbon said that not a single job had been lost in Bermuda, other than those that had occurred through the normal day-to-day business of attrition.

"In the 28 years that I've worked here, we've been extremely good at finding alternative opportunities for people when circumstances have changed."