Lloyd's insurer Amlin has closed down its US platform after less than two years in business, The Insurance Insider can reveal. Amlin was the first Lloyd's agency to establish a representative office in Illinois, working within the existing Lloyd's infrastructure and using the Society's US licence to write admitted lines.  The insurer set up the Chicago office in July 2008, drawn by the promise of business from local brokers and the opportunity to encourage more volume into the London market.  The Stateside venture, however, is understood to have struggled to take root in the crowded US market, with competition from corporate giants such as Chubb and Travelers and local admitted carriers.  Other Lloyd's managing agents followed Amlin's move into the US, including Beazley, Brit and Catlin. Brit was incorporated in Illinois in December 2008 to write AJ Gallagher business and became operational in May 2009.  Amlin Illinois specialised in property, casualty, auto and marine cargo business.  An Amlin spokeswoman confirmed the decision and said the US platform closed down on 30 April.  "We were not successful in penetrating those local [US] markets," she said.  "Given current market conditions we decided not to carry on with our operation in the US going forwards."  David Harris, president of the former Amlin Illinois operation, has continued as managing director of London-based Amlin Underwriting.  In recent months the Lloyd's insurer has secured a further foothold in Europe, launching a reinsurance platform in Switzerland in May.  This followed its EUR350mn acquisition in July last year of the European commercial insurer Fortis Corporate Insurance from the Dutch government.  Amlin's new Swiss-domiciled operation is capitalised with $1.4bn, and aims at providing the group with access to European reinsurance business that does not typically flow into the London and Bermuda marketplaces.  Amlin intends to re-domicile its reinsurance company, Amlin Bermuda Limited, from Bermuda to Zurich, renaming the company Amlin AG.  The existing operations of Amlin Bermuda will become a Bermuda-based branch of Amlin AG.