Swiss Re Ireland Ltd, the Irish subsidiary of reinsurance giant Swiss Re, has gone into voluntary liquidation with estimated surplus assets of €95.7 million.

Michael Sargent, of Michael Sargent and Co, Dublin, has been appointed liquidator to the company, according to a filing in the Companies' Registration Office.

The latest accounts filed for the company were for the year 2005 and show it made a profit before tax of €27 million.

The accounts, which were filed last year, also show that Swiss Re Ireland repatriated dividends totalling €150 million to its parent in 2005.

Swiss Re Ireland was one of the main Irish subsidiaries of the reinsurance giant. The accounts indicate that it employed 16 staff in 2005.

The subsidiary booked reinsurance contracts from Swiss Re's operations throughout Europe.

Earlier this year the group said it could save up to € 310 million in capital through an organisational change. It said that forming three new legal entities in Luxembourg as risk carriers for most of its reinsurance and insurance business in Europe would allow a significant simplification of its legal structure.

"The new legal structure will allow more efficient capital management, administration and reporting," said Henner Alms, a Swiss Re official.

"It will improve the alignment of regulatory and economic capital requirements."