Canopius has appointed Sean Redden as underwriting counsel for its specialty division, with a specific focus on credit and political risk.

This is a new London-based role, which reports to Bernie de Haldevang, head of specialty.

Redden, a qualified lawyer, joins from Chubb Insurance, where he was the global political risk and credit claims manager. He previously held positions at Signature Litigation, Aspen Insurance, Clyde & Co, Allens and Minter Ellison.

At Canopius, he will support the credit and political risk underwriting team, to “help reduce operational risk, increase efficiency and enhance client support in loss mitigation and potential claims scenarios”, according to the insurance firm. He will also assist in managing the legal aspects of debt restructuring and refinancing.

“I am delighted to welcome a legal mind of Sean’s calibre to our growing speciality team,” says de Haldevang.

Canopius has been steadily growing its London trade credit team since de Haldevang was brought in to lead the specialty division in mid-2016. Underwriters Scott Morrison and William Clark both joined from AIG at the start of last year. Clark leads the trade credit team, reporting to de Haldevang.

Mid-2017 then saw the arrival of underwriters Claire Davenport, Daina Muceniece, Stephen Pike and Tim Phillips, senior underwriter Yvonne McCormack and credit and political risk analyst Bruce Shepherd. More recently, Rebecca Marsden left her position as credit and political risk underwriter at AXA Africa’s specialty risks department to take on the same role at Canopius.