Brussels, 12/10/2011 (Agence Europe) - On 12 October, the European Commission approved support measures of over €700 million provided by the Irish Insurance Compensation Fund (ICF) for the restructuring of Quinn Insurance Limited (QIL), an Irish general insurer which ran into difficulties in 2010 and is currently in administration. As part of the restructuring, the viable Irish general insurance part of QIL has been sold to a joint venture between the US insurer Liberty Mutual and Anglo Irish bank, while the non-viable UK operations will be wound-down. The Irish Insurance Compensation Fund (ICF), a state-body established to finance the repayment of policyholders' claims in case of an administration or liquidation, will cover the gap between the firm's assets and liabilities. With the help of the ICF, QIL could continue to compete on the Irish and UK general insurance markets until the good parts of it is sold. The policy holders' claims will be repaid from the proceeds of these sales. Without this support, QIL would have been liquidated, leading to limits on the repayments to policy holders. The Commission considers this plan ensures adequate burden sharing by shareholders and limits competition distortions. (FG/trans/fl)