S&P assigns stable ratings outlook to global insurers
16 June 2008
Standard & Poor’s has assigned a “stable” outlook to most global insurers despite intense competition holding down earnings...
International
Insurers to ride out the US credit crunch
16 June 2008
Insurers are the least likely financial institutions to bear the brunt of the US subprime mortgage crisis, says a ratings agency official...
Swiss Re calls for public-private risk financing
16 June 2008
Swiss Re has called on governments to use public-private partnerships to prevent natural catastrophes draining public funds...
Industry braces for US flood claims
16 June 2008
Damage to infrastructure from last week’s floods in the US state of Iowa is expected to reach hundreds of millions of dollars...
Future bleak for US bond insurers
16 June 2008
US bond insurers are in dire straits if last week’s ratings downgrades are anything to go by...
Contingent commissions return via the back door
10 June 2008
Three years after the “big three” brokers in the US agreed to stop accepting contingent commissions, a new agreement with government agencies paves the way for…
Ace set to incorporate in Switzerland
10 June 2008
Ace Limited has denied it’s planning to move from its Bermuda headquarters after deciding to change its place of incorporation from the Cayman Islands to Switzerland...
Zurich leads scramble for bank’s insurance assets
10 June 2008
Zurich and US insurer Allstate are the major bidders for the insurance wing of the Royal Bank of Scotland, which is on sale for about £7 billion ($14.5 billion)...
Willis doubles US exposure
10 June 2008
Global insurance broker Willis Group Holdings has bought major US competitor Hilb Regal and Hobbs for $US2.1 billion ($2.2 billion)...
Liberty Mutual establishes Indian JV
10 June 2008
Liberty Mutual is the latest foreign insurer to recognise the potential of the fast-growing Indian market...
UK regulator backs away from compulsory disclosure
02 June 2008
British brokers look to be winning the battle over mandatory commission disclosure...
RBS insurance arm awaits buyer
02 June 2008
First-round offers for the Royal Bank of Scotland’s insurance business are likely to drag on through June after the extension of an initial deadline, media reports have claimed...
Challenges ahead for US commercial, reinsurance: S&P
02 June 2008
Underwriting profitability could suffer as prices deteriorate across US property/casualty lines, says Standard & Poor’s...
UK regulator appoints new chairman
02 June 2008
Lord Adair Turner has been named the next Chairman of the Financial Services Authority, the UK’s peak financial services regulator...
Insurers brace for US hurricane season as Colorado counts cost
02 June 2008
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is urging people to be fully prepared for the hurricane season, which officially began yesterday...
Mixed rating fortunes for AIG
02 June 2008
AIG has received a mixed report card from credit ratings agencies following last month’s $US20 billion ($20.9 billion) capital-raising...
Lloyd’s votes to end broker protectionism
26 May 2008
Lloyd’s brokers are set to lose their exclusive access to the market following a vote by members in favour of far-reaching Treasury reforms...
Greenberg faces civil charges over AIG reinsurance fraud
26 May 2008
Just days after slamming AIG as “in crisis”, the insurer’s former CEO Maurice “Hank” Greenberg faces possible civil charges over a fraudulent reinsurance deal with General Re...
UK insurers lock horns with Government on flood
26 May 2008
In a sign the long-running public-private compact guaranteeing most UK consumers flood cover is starting to unravel, British insurers are at loggerheads with the Government…
China earthquake barely shakes insurers
19 May 2008
The 7.8-magnitude earthquake that devastated China last Monday shows just how far the country’s insurance industry is behind the world’s biggest economies...