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India to lift 26% FDI cap
Asia
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02 February 2007
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JLT launches Malta captive company
Europe
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02 February 2007
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AIG elects vice presidents
North America
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02 February 2007
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Aon launches global unit
International
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02 February 2007
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Aviation
9.1, crash, fatalities
Iraq: thirty people were killed when an Antonov-26 carrying Turkish workers crashed north of Baghdad. The aircraft was travelling from the province of Adana in southern Turkey to Iraq. Thirty construction workers and five crew..
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02 February 2007
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Natural catastrophes
9.1, torrential rain
Brazil: communities across southeastern Brazil declared a state of emergency as torrential rain continued to cause extensive damage in the region. At least 50 people were reported to have died, more than half of them in the..
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02 February 2007
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Marine
9.1, collision
United Arab Emirates: a US nuclear powered submarine collided with a Japanese tanker near the Straits of Hormuz. The USS Newport News
did not sustain substantial damage, and there were no injuries to crew. There were no oil spills..
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02 February 2007
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Liability, awards and settlements
9.1, Graniteville train wreck class action
US: residents and workers injured by chlorine exposure from the 2005 Graniteville train wreck would receive a lump-sum payment ranging from $9,375 to $22,500 each under a proposed class-action..
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02 February 2007
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Road and rail
16.1, derailment, fatalities
Indonesia: at least five people were killed and over 270 others wounded after one of the railroad passenger cars of a train skidded on a bridge and plunged into a ravine in Indonesia’s central Java province.
13.1,..
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02 February 2007
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Property damage and business interruption
10.1, bird flu
Asia: a 14-year-old Indonesian boy has died of bird flu, taking the country’s human death toll to 58. The boy, from Tangerang in West Jawa, near Jakarta, was hospitalised in the capital a week earlier. The Indonesian Health..
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02 February 2007
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Arab Insurance Group
Life reinsurance accounted for $5.6mn of the group’s gross premiums in 2005 but it is seen as a key growth area for the future
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02 February 2007
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Tax and capital flight loopholes closed, but insurance market sees fall in liability and property premium income
Although the Latvian market continues to develop positively, some observers suggest that in the long-term the largest risks will be placed outside the country while mass risks will be covered to a large extent by bank-related insurers
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02 February 2007
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R&SA boosted by favourable US asbestos ruling
The value of the insurance and reinsurance stocks tracked by WIR
generally fell during the two week period ending 25 January. The fall was generally due to the perception of macro economic trends in the US, particularly the increasing pressure on..
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02 February 2007
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Equitable Life inquiry clashes with Irish regulator over disclosures
The European Parliament inquiry is demanding the IFSRA provide details of correspondence with other regulators
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02 February 2007
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European Parliament and Commission feud over motor claims law
MEPs argue that a court should be able to apply the motor accident victim’s national law to calculate damages
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02 February 2007
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Allianz buys out AGF and Allianz Lebens as part of SE transfer
The acquisitions will cost Allianz €7.5bn • Insurers count Kyrill damages • Skandia sells Skandia Vida to CNP Assurances • Aegon and Sony Life form annuity company • Converium forms links in Brazil as the market opens to foreign reinsurers
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02 February 2007
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Robert Jensen, chief executive, Kenyon International
Over the last decade, Kenyon International has been responsible for the recovery, identification and return of the deceased and their personal effects after a number of major airline crashes and other high profile disasters including the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the bombings of the night club in Bali and the US embassy in Baghdad, the Asian Tsunami, and the flooding of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. But the company’s relationship with the aviation insurance sector is far from easy: Mr Jensen says that there are still some underwriters who refuse to pay for DNA analysis of human remains and thereby deny families the comfort of having a loved one buried in an individual rather than in a mass grave
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02 February 2007
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Reinsurers drive hard bargain as insurers fight for volume
Insurers are facing tough negotiations with reinsurers as they push through stiffer terms
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02 February 2007
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Life insurance sales climb but penetration rates remain low
Banks need to reconsider distribution channels if they are to reach meaningful levels of life sales, according to new research
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02 February 2007
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New legislation to cut rates will damage competition, NAMIC
The insurer body objects to measures that force auto insurers in Florida to also offer homeowners’ policies under new law
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02 February 2007
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The continuous nature of risk in emerging markets
Global businesses need to adopt formal structures to assess the ongoing risks posed by political instability and unrest in emerging markets if they are to protect their growing investment in these areas, according to Alisdair Ross
, senior analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit. The EIU conducted a survey of 177 executives around the world about their attitudes to operating risk management in the context of emerging market investments. The survey and the subsequent report (an edited extract of which appears here) were sponsored by the London market insurance group, Ace Global Markets and by IBM and KPMG.
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02 February 2007
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Satisfaction does not guarantee loyalty
A satisfied insurance customer isn’t necessarily a loyal one, according to the first World Insurance Report, an international study of over 10,000 insurance customers, insurers and distributors by the consulting, technology and outsourcing..
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02 February 2007
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805 - 02 February 2007
Quinn takes up the challenge in the Irish health market
Quinn will freeze premiums this year in an effort to retain as many of BUPA’s 450,000 policy holders as possible
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02 February 2007
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Ping An prices IPO
Asia
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16 February 2007
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806 - 16 February 2007
UK firms unprepared for new liability legislation
Europe
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16 February 2007
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Prop cat premiums up in Q4 2006
North America/Bermuda
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16 February 2007
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Aviation
28.1, emergency landing
Malaysia: a Korean Air flight carrying 234 passengers from Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, to Seoul made an emergency landing due to an engine malfunction on January 23 it was belatedly reported. The aircraft’s engine suffered..
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16 February 2007
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Natural catastrophes
29.1, road and bridge damage
Malaysia: road and bridge damage in Sabah during the three week long bad weather cost the Malaysian government RM87mn (£11.0mn). Flood damage to roads in the state cost about RM53.9mn while damage to federal roads..
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16 February 2007
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Marine
24.1, detention
Philippines: the Philippine Coast Guard released ferry KC Beatrice
after it was detained for several days at Zamboanga Port. KC Beatrice
was detained after two cargo inspectors were killed by toxic fumes when they entered the..
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16 February 2007
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Liability, awards and settlements
30.1, accidental death, award
US: the family of a woman who died after being hit by an SUV at a car wash was awarded $7.5mn in compensatory damages on January 26 in a lawsuit against the business. The victim died of head injuries after the crash..
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16 February 2007
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Property and business interruption
27.1, bird flu
Japan: officials confirmed a second outbreak of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu. Work was under way to cull more than 100,000 birds on the farm where the outbreak was discovered and on the neighbouring property. A 10-kilometre-wide..
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16 February 2007
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Axis Capital Holdings
The company believes that the huge catastrophe losses suffered by the property reinsurance market in 2004 and 2005 will eventually drive changes in the primary market where the importance of adequate risk modelling is still not fully appreciated
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16 February 2007
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806 - 16 February 2007
Majority of insurers will fail new capital adequacy requirements
Given the size of the Nigerian economy, it is somewhat surprising that other African countries such as Namibia, Botswana and Egypt have better performance in terms of insurance penetration. But, according to some observers, this indicates that there is significant potential for the future expansion of the market given the right operating environment
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16 February 2007
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806 - 16 February 2007
US and Bermudian stocks finally recover from KRW
US and Bermudian insurance and reinsurance stocks, which reported their full year 2006 results well ahead of their European counterparts, generally gained strongly over the two week period ending February 8.
But the remarkable extent of the recovery..
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16 February 2007
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806 - 16 February 2007
Economy growth produces mixed fortunes for insurers
Argentina’s insurers expect premiums to return to peak levels in 2007 • Colombian premiums up 18% but earnings plummet
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16 February 2007
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IRB Brasil Re gives up monopoly under new reinsurance law
The face of Brazil’s reinsurance market, for so long dominated by state firm IRB, is set for major change
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16 February 2007
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806 - 16 February 2007
Bancassurance steals market share from agents
The earlier agreement to allow agents to sell both life and non-life insurance has been delayed by two years
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16 February 2007
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806 - 16 February 2007
Prudential UK: Riding an Asian tiger
Prudential is reaping the rewards of being one of the first foreign insurers to set up shop in Vietnam
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16 February 2007
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Pension deficit improves on equity recovery
A new report reveals the deficit totalled £33.7bn in March 2006, down from a peak of £120bn in 2003
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16 February 2007
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806 - 16 February 2007
Market records further double-digit growth in 2006
Competition between insurers is said by the FFSA to be “particularly lively”, especially in the motor and corporate markets
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16 February 2007
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806 - 16 February 2007
World’s largest reinsurers report on competitive renewals season
Munich Re looks forward to Asia renewals, Hannover Re admits to softening market, and SCOR increases business by 10%
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16 February 2007
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806 - 16 February 2007
AM Best anticipates failure of TRIEA renewal in firm assessments
The rating agency is asking for terrorism loss mitigation plans from companies at risk from an attack
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16 February 2007
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Will technology keep the good times rolling for p&c insurers?
In recent years the financial results of the insurance industry have come into alignment with its traditional goal of making an underwriting profit. According to technology research and advisory firm Celent, several factors account for this. Some of the most important are changes in how the industry understands the risks it puts on its books, pays losses, and works with its customers and agents. Here Donald Light
, a senior analyst at Celent, explains the contribution technology has made to improving each of these processes.
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16 February 2007
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806 - 16 February 2007
Making risk-based regulation effective
The UK’s Financial Services Authority (FSA) does not seek to avoid all failure of financial firms. It is an impossible goal whose pursuit has many undesirable consequences, according to FSA chairman
Sir Callum McCarthy
in a recent speech..
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16 February 2007
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806 - 16 February 2007
Florida fund dilemma for cat reinsurers
But companies, almost without exception, insisted that the impact on their business would be minimal
Online Published Date:
16 February 2007
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806 - 16 February 2007