i-law.com - Newsletter (World Insurance Report)

7.9, robbery Guatemala: gunmen held up a truck carrying US$22mn from the Bank of Guatemala that was en route to the airport for shipment to the US Federal Reserve when the thieves attacked, according to the Guatemalan Interior Ministry...

Online Published Date: 29 September 2006

Appeared in issue: 797 - 29 September 2006

Aviation

7.9, crash, fatalities Congo: three foreigners and a Congolese pilot died after the private plane they were travelling in crashed in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The passengers were two South Africans and an American. The plane, which belonged..

Online Published Date: 29 September 2006

Appeared in issue: 797 - 29 September 2006

Natural catastrophes

12.9, floods, fatalities Vietnam: floods and storms killed 24 people in Vietnam’s southern Mekong Delta. The victims of the heavy downpour were from the two provinces of An Giang and Dong Thap. Flooding also inundated many houses, schools,..

Online Published Date: 29 September 2006

Appeared in issue: 797 - 29 September 2006

Marine

6.9, vessel to be scrapped Philippines: Batangas Bay Carriers, the owner and operator of product tanker Malitam , has reversed its decision to repair the vessel following reports that the government will require all domestic tankers to have..

Online Published Date: 29 September 2006

Appeared in issue: 797 - 29 September 2006

Liability, awards and settlements

5.9, medical malpractice, award Australia: a 10-year-old boy left with cerebral palsy after a Queensland public hospital bungled his birth was awarded A$5.3mn in compensation, the state’s largest ever personal injury payout. The victim is..

Online Published Date: 29 September 2006

Appeared in issue: 797 - 29 September 2006

Road and rail

5.9, collision The Netherlands: ten people were injured when a shunter locomotive and a commuter train collided in Amersfoort station. The drivers of the trains suffered cuts to their faces while eight passengers were also taken to hospital with..

Online Published Date: 29 September 2006

Appeared in issue: 797 - 29 September 2006

Property and business interruption

7.9, explosion, fatalities India: at least 54 miners were feared dead in eastern India after the roof of a state-owned coal mine collapsed following an explosion. The incident took place in the Dhanbad district of the eastern state of Jharkhand. As..

Online Published Date: 29 September 2006

Appeared in issue: 797 - 29 September 2006

Late reports

4.9, collision, fatalities Egypt: a passenger train and a freight train collided head-on north of Cairo, killing at least two people and injuring 16 others. However, media reports suggested as many as five people had died, but other security sources..

Online Published Date: 29 September 2006

Appeared in issue: 797 - 29 September 2006

Central Reinsurance Corporation, Taiwan

The former state-owned reinsurer, with the support of its new majority shareholder the Evergreen marine transport conglomerate, increased its paid up capital by TAD800mn in 2005 to keep pace with the rapid changes in its domestic market

Online Published Date: 29 September 2006

Appeared in issue: 797 - 29 September 2006

Thailand has ambitious growth plans for insurance business

But the pace of market liberalisation will have to speed up significantly if the industry is to meet the government’s aspirations

Online Published Date: 29 September 2006

Appeared in issue: 797 - 29 September 2006

Insurance stocks benefit from recoveries in other sectors

In the US, investor confidence was boosted by the news that US consumer inflation had slowed down in August

Online Published Date: 29 September 2006

Appeared in issue: 797 - 29 September 2006

GIC considers expansion in reinsuring energy risks

Changes in legislation create opportunities for local insurance market • Demand for patent insurance is on the rise

Online Published Date: 29 September 2006

Appeared in issue: 797 - 29 September 2006

Industry stabilises after regulatory scandals of the past

The period 2003-2005 was a time of transition for Australian insurers in the wake of HIH

Online Published Date: 29 September 2006

Appeared in issue: 797 - 29 September 2006

Groupama adds its name to list of suitors for Serbian insurer DDOR

Some 13 firms bid for 80% DDOR stake • French life premiums rise 22% in H1 2006 • Munich Re report identifies piracy risk

Online Published Date: 29 September 2006

Appeared in issue: 797 - 29 September 2006

Life insurance business growth outpaces non-life in Poland

Last year the country’s life insurance market grew by 21% and now accounts for almost 50% of the total insurance market

Online Published Date: 29 September 2006

Appeared in issue: 797 - 29 September 2006

Drama as investigation into PZU reaches conclusion

Eureko is forced to defend its actions following publication of a commission report into the privatisation of PZU

Online Published Date: 29 September 2006

Appeared in issue: 797 - 29 September 2006

Dane Douetil, chairman of the London Market Reform Group

Why, for the first time in several generations, there is now a climate in which the senior people in the market place, both brokers and underwriters, are pushing for change in the way subscription business is processed

Online Published Date: 29 September 2006

Appeared in issue: 797 - 29 September 2006

Romanian insurance reforms win EC backing

Some challenges remain, but number of uninsured vehicles is down and the Green Card Bureau is now financially independent

Online Published Date: 29 September 2006

Appeared in issue: 797 - 29 September 2006

Actuaries, risk management and the new life assurance regulation

A year after the final report of the Morris Review and six months after the profession’s own strategy review, Nicholas John Dumbreck, the new president of the Institute of Actuaries, considers what needs to be done to enable the UK actuarial profession to flourish in an environment which is much more competitive and where the profession is subject to much greater scrutiny. This is an edited extract from Mr Dumbreck’s presidential address to the Institute earlier this week.

Online Published Date: 29 September 2006

Appeared in issue: 797 - 29 September 2006

The ERM buzz, the importance of measuring risk and the impact on ratings

Considering the vast number of consultants, software firms and universities touting their expertise in ERM and the multiple seminars focused on this topic, it would appear that ERM is the greatest development in the industry since marine risks were..

Online Published Date: 29 September 2006

Appeared in issue: 797 - 29 September 2006

Brokers push for lower capital limits

Intermediaries are also calling for the introduction of co-broking arrangements

Online Published Date: 29 September 2006

Appeared in issue: 797 - 29 September 2006

European chemical industry lobbies against duty-of-care legislation

Industry says such a move will interfere with national liability systems and lead to confusion and legal uncertainty

Online Published Date: 29 September 2006

Appeared in issue: 797 - 29 September 2006