It’s all getting a bit murky for Berkshire Hathaway’s General Re, as former CEO Ronald Ferguson has elects to “take the fifth” – invoking his constitutional right to refuse to answer questions.

General Re is being investigated in the US over its transactions with reinsurer Reciprocal of America. It is also being investigated locally for its reinsurance arrangements with defunct insurer FAI Insurance.

Mr Ferguson has acted as a consultant for the reinsurer, but General Re – in common with other companies like Marsh and AIG which have already felt the regulators’ wrath – won’t permit people associated with it to not answer questions. As a result, the company says he won’t be working for the group again.