It is with thoughtful consideration that Roanoke Trade announces a new managing general agent partnership with American Alternative Insurance Corporation (AAIC) for customs and other transportation-related bonds. While Roanoke Trade will maintain its secondary customs bond markets for excess capacity needs, we will be transitioning all Washington International Insurance Company (WIIC) and Navigators Insurance Company (NIC) bonds to AAIC.

The transition will phase in over a 12 month period starting with July bond renewals; single transaction bonds may be available for use earlier. More communications will follow shortly with detailed timelines.

• Writing cargo policies on behalf of Munich Re's Lloyd's of London insurance underwriting group, Watkins Syndicate, has enabled us to substantially increase policy limits for the protection of shippers' goods.
• Since 2008 Munich Re has reinsured the customs bonds that Roanoke Trade offers through WIIC and NIC. It is a natural next step to transition this surety business into the Munich Re family of companies so we can be even more responsive to our clients' surety needs.

• Roanoke Trade will handle your continuous bond terminations and replacements in the manner which you prefer.
• We are working closely with CBP to streamline the process wherever possible and to ensure their staff is prepared. CBP has confirmed that conditional termination and replacement requests upon submission of new bonds will ensure there is no lapse in bond coverage for an importer. This 'conditional termination and replacement' language will automatically generate with the applicable bond packages prepared in FastBond^TM and will be used by our bond service representatives to handle your submissions.
• We are coordinating staff resources to ensure our service level is highly responsive. Nearly all of our clients use FastBond^TM to process their continuous bonds so the necessary bond data is stored and ready to make the process virtually effortless.
• FastBond^TM enhancements will take management of your clients' bond business to a whole new level of efficiency. Webcast demonstrations of the new features will be available and announced soon. Contact us if your company is not already using FastBond^TM.
• We are working with surety approved ABI vendors to ensure bond forms and surety codes are updated. Please call 1-800-ROANOKE, ext. 1249 or email fastbond@roanoketrade.com should you have questions or require additional assistance with an authorized ABI system's bond set-up. For those using pre-printed single transaction bonds, they will be delivered to your office.
• Roanoke Trade is communicating with the FMC and will submit riders to change sureties on any of your existing Ocean Transportation Intermediary bonds instead of having to terminate and replace them. This is a process permitted by the FMC, but not by CBP on customs bonds.

We would be remiss if we did not extend our appreciation to both Washington International and Navigators Insurance Company for the relationships we have shared over the past several years. However, partnering with our affiliate company, AAIC, will produce positive results for Roanoke Trade and our clients. Bill Sterrett, President of Roanoke Trade remarked, "AAIC will provide the long-term stability that our clients require and deserve, and Roanoke Trade will deliver the same quality service with more synergy."