PEARL RIVER, NY - September 28, 2006 - ACORD (www.acord.org) announced that Puneet Bharal has been elevated to Program Director for its Reinsurance and Large Commercial (RLC) standards program. He formerly served as the RLC Program Manager.

Puneet Bharal, Program Director, Reinsurance & Large Commercial Program at ACORD

Puneet Bharal, Program Director, Reinsurance & Large Commercial Program at ACORD
In this new position, Mr. Bharal will manage the RLC standards program worldwide from ACORD's office in London. He will also be involved with cross domain initiatives such as the ACORD Standards Framework and working with ACORD's other two standards domains - Property & Casualty/Surety and Life & Annuity.

Since 2001, ACORD has been maintaining and advancing the development of data standards for the reinsurance sector. In that time, ACORD standards have been identified as a key component of the London Market reform initiative to improve claims handling, accounting and settlement, and placing.

The announcement was made prior to the official launch of ACORD Video on Demand (www.acordtv.org) in London being held October 4, 2006 at their office in the London Underwriting Centre. Mr. Bharal is also involved in the ACORD Video on Demand within the reinsurance sector as well as for the London Market and he will be working to help develop video in response to market needs.

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About ACORD: Based in New York, ACORD (Association for Cooperative Operations Research and Development) is a global, nonprofit insurance association whose mission is to facilitate the development and use of standards for the insurance, reinsurance and related financial services industries. With offices in London as well, ACORD accomplishes its mission by remaining an objective, independent advocate for sharing information among diverse platforms. ACORD Standards and services improve efficiency and expand market reach. Affiliated with ACORD are hundreds of insurance and reinsurance companies, and thousands of agents and brokers, related financial services organizations, solution providers, and industry organizations worldwide.