ACE Group said it is launching a number of new surety products in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, as part of a broader expansion of its surety capabilities in Europe.

The new products will include contract bid, performance and advance payment bonds, customs bonds, bonds to secure legal and regulatory obligations, and bonds to appeal adverse tax-related and civil judgments, the company said.

To handle this latest expansion, ACE said it hired Björn Eding as its surety underwriting manager. Eding most recently worked as an executive at Nationale Borg, the largest independent surety company in the Netherlands, ACE said. ACE Group is considered one of the world’s largest multiline property/casualty insurers.

Meanwhile, corporate parent ACE Limited announced recently that it will acquire the corporate property/casualty business of Itaú Seguros, S.A. from Itaú Unibanco S.A. for roughly $685 million. The deal will make ACE the largest commercial P/C insurer in the largest market in Latin America – Brazil.