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The importance of capital to mutual insurers
The importance of capital to mutual insurers
Ready access to capital has been highlighted by members of the International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Federation (ICMIF) as being one of the key challenges for them. At ICMIF's Paris..
Online Published Date:
29 July 2005
Appeared in issue:
768 - 29 July 2005
Surplus capital likely to prompt round of mergers and acquisitions
European insurers’ results in 2005 should be as good as those in 2000, but with better underwriting results
Online Published Date:
29 July 2005
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768 - 29 July 2005
State owned health insurer warns of impending financial crisis
The company attributes its reversal in fortunes to the absence of risk equalisation to which its competitors, BUPA and Vivas, are bitterly opposed. Risk equalisation will see the additional cost of community rating shared between insurers
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29 July 2005
Appeared in issue:
768 - 29 July 2005
News round-up
New French life insurance legislation • Germany renews terrorist damage guarantee • Generali • PZU targets SMEs
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29 July 2005
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768 - 29 July 2005
Workers' compensation lawsuits increased by 90% in Argentina
HDI acquires HSBC business in Brazil • Honduras market grows by 7.2% • Consolidation in the Dominican market
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29 July 2005
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768 - 29 July 2005
Insurers put the cost of recent earthquake at US$40mn
Voluntary cover for households against natural catastrophes remains limited, with only 8% of housing stock insured
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29 July 2005
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768 - 29 July 2005
Prudential has biggest share of life market
UK insurer overtook Baoviet in 2004 • Insurers' IT spending in China
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29 July 2005
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768 - 29 July 2005
Market responds positively to Munich Re's maintenance of ROE targets
Munich Re says the impact of the latest reserve action will only be partially felt at group level, where general provision had already been made for long-tail losses
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29 July 2005
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768 - 29 July 2005
Allied World Assurance Holdings
Business written in Europe was the main driver of revenue growth in 2004 but result dampened by catastrophe losses
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29 July 2005
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768 - 29 July 2005
Winterthur Group
2004 result adversely affected by additional provisions of SF250mn relating to the sale of Winterthur's international arm
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29 July 2005
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768 - 29 July 2005
Market on road to recovery as fear of rampant inflation fades
The life insurance business written by foreign life insurance companies has fallen since 2000, but the volume of this business remains significant and it continues to support the activities of local brokers in Iceland
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29 July 2005
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768 - 29 July 2005
Liability, awards & settlements
12. 7, oil reserves, settlement
US: Royal Dutch Shell will pay more than $90mn to settle a class action lawsuit taken by employees in relation to a reserves overbooking scandal last year. The Anglo-Dutch oil giant said in a statement it would..
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29 July 2005
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768 - 29 July 2005
Europe
BaFin blesses takeover
Germany's Financial Supervisory Authority (Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht – BaFin) has approved the planned merger between German bank Bayerische Hypo-und Vereinsbank AG (HVB) and Italian..
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29 July 2005
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768 - 29 July 2005
North America
Executive Life award
A jury awarded US$700mn in punitive damages to the State of California against French company, Artemis for conspiring to defraud state insurance regulators in the early 1990s through its acquisition of the bankrupt local..
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29 July 2005
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768 - 29 July 2005
Asia
Malaysian merger
Bank Negara, Malaysia's financial services regulator, has given permission for the local subsidiaries of the UK's Aviva Insurance and Japan's Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance to start merger talks. Mitsui Sumitomo announced..
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29 July 2005
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768 - 29 July 2005
Natural catastrophes
10. 7, hurricane, fatalities
USA & Caribbean: hurricane Dennis killed about 60 people in Cuba and Haiti before moving across north-west Florida and Alabama. Despite downed power lines and outages affecting half a million people early reports..
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29 July 2005
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768 - 29 July 2005
Road, rail
13. 7, collision, fatalities
Pakistan: a train collision near the town of Ghotki in Sindh province left about 130 people dead and 130 others injured. Officials said the Karachi Express coming from Lahore ran into the rear of the broken down Quetta..
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29 July 2005
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768 - 29 July 2005
Property & business interruption
11. 7, explosion, fatalities
China: sixty-six miners died and 17 others were missing after a gas explosion at the Shenlong Coal Mine, 60 km from Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region.
14. 7, fire, damage
UK: fire destroyed around half of..
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29 July 2005
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768 - 29 July 2005
Late reports
30. 6, floods, damage
Australia: the insurance bill from torrential rain and flooding on the Gold Coast in southeast Queensland and northern New South Wales is expected to reach at least A$25mn (US$18.5mn). Coolangatta Airport was forced to..
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29 July 2005
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768 - 29 July 2005
Fall in liability rates for technology firms
Fall in liability rates for technology firms
Premium rates for liability insurance cover for the IT and related sectors in India has dropped by over 30% over the last year, according to insurers providing the cover.
This is despite a 50% growth in..
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29 July 2005
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768 - 29 July 2005
Myth and reality
Myth and reality
An online survey of 1,000 drivers conducted by Progressive Insurance, the third largest motor insurer in the US, found that a significant number of respondents believed that the colour of a car influences how much it costs to insure..
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29 July 2005
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768 - 29 July 2005
Customer retention and outsourcing on a Europe-wide scale
Ian Makepeace, Vice President Sales, Pitney Bowes Management Services, considers the key issues for insurance firms contemplating a pan-European outsourcing strategy.
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29 July 2005
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768 - 29 July 2005
Pollution register intended to ‘serve insurance sector’
The PRTR will emulate proven schemes in the US, Australia and Canada
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29 July 2005
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768 - 29 July 2005
Motor tariff still in place but insurers can raise rates
The powerful Confederation of Goods Vehicles Owners will challenge ruling
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29 July 2005
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768 - 29 July 2005