Buffett's Berkshire pays $610m to settle Swiss Re dispute Swiss Re, one of the world's biggest insurers, said in a statement it would take back some of the risks covered by a reinsurance contract agreed with Berkshire in January 2010. The deal also reduces the total losses assumed by Berkshire from $1.5bn to $1.05bn. The dispute has been simmering for a while. In its third-quarter earning statement last November, Swiss Re said that Berkshire was "alleging damages of between $0.5bn and $1bn." Swiss Re said at the time that the claim was without merit. It subsequently met with Berkshire and a settlement was reached. The insurer, which accepted an $3.3bn emergeny loan from Berkshire in 2009 after it incurred heavy losses on derivative investments during the financial crisis, said the deal will lead to a $100m gain in the first quarter of 2013.