S&P rates Atlas Reinsurance notes B

Standard & Poor's said it assigned a B rating to the €160 million principal-at-risk variable rate notes due Jan. 10, 2011, issued by Atlas Reinsurance IV Ltd.

The issuer swaps the total return of the asset portfolio with Goldman Sachs International in exchange for quarterly Euribor-based payments. Atlas Re IV entered into a retrocessional contract with SCOR Global P&C SE, according to S&P.

Proceeds will be used to provide SCOR with a source of parametric cover for windstorms in Europe and earthquakes in Japan.

"Catastrophe bonds of this type are well-established risk management tools for insurance and reinsurance companies to transfer peak risks in certain parts of the world into the capital markets," credit analyst Cameron Heath said in a written statement.

The ratings are based on the creditworthiness of SCOR as ceding reinsurer and on Goldman Sachs as guarantor of the total return swap counterparty, the agency said.

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