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Asia
Liberty Insurance to establish Beijing branch
Liberty Mutual’s China subsidiary, Liberty Insurance Company Limited (LICL), has been granted approval by China’s insurance regulators to establish a branch in Beijing. It is the first..
Online Published Date:
04 August 2008
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Europe
ING granted Ukraine life insurance licence
ING has received a life licence from the Ukrainian insurance regulator. It plans to start offering life insurance products from the first half of next year. The group has been in Ukraine since 1994, but..
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04 August 2008
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US
Tokio Marine buys Philadelphia Consolidated
Japanese insurance group Tokio Marine Holdings has made its first major acquisition in the US in an agreement to buy 100% of Philadelphia Consolidated Holding Corp, a US property & casualty group. The..
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04 August 2008
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International
Premiums depressed at mid-year renewal
Excess capital depressed premium levels at July’s property and casualty reinsurance renewals, commented reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter. Risk-adjusted pricing was down by 10% to 20% from July 2007..
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04 August 2008
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Aviation
8.7, crash, fatalities
Colombia: local authorities said a US cargo aircraft heading for Miami crashed near the Colombian capital Bogota, killing two people on the ground. It was the second crash in two months of a Boeing 747 flown by Kalitta Air of..
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04 August 2008
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Natural catastrophes
13.7, thunderstorms
China: about 170 flights were delayed or cancelled in Shanghai because of thunderstorms. According to the website of the Shanghai Airport Authorities, more than 70 domestic flights and 70 international ones were delayed, while..
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04 August 2008
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Marine
8.7, fire, sinking
South Africa: thirty-six crew members were rescued after trawler (All types) Galaecia caught fire and sank off the east coast of southern Africa, the Cape Town Marine Rescue Co-ordination Centre said. The Durban-based fishing..
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04 August 2008
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Liability, awards and settlements
8.7, illegal fishing ban
New Zealand: fishing (general) Paloma V (1016 gt, built 2004), which docked in a New Zealand port with fish caught illegally in Antarctic waters, could be banned by 34 countries after losing a court bid to keep its actions..
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04 August 2008
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Property and business interruption
8.7, dockworkers’ strike
South Africa: a potentially damaging strike by employees at the Transnet operated Pier 1 Container Terminal in Durban was resolved after just over a day with workers returning to duty. The strike was the result of a..
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04 August 2008
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Smaller insurers under pressure as market competition intensifies
Most European and other international insurers are already present in Poland. In June 2006, AXA acquired Winterthur Life and Pensions and launched Avanssur, its own non-life business in Poland as a branch operation of one of its French divisions. Bancassurance in Poland was initially slow to develop but over the last few years it has grown in popularity. Of total business sold in 2006, 21.8% was by this method, up from 14.4% in 2005. Allianz and Amplico are involved with the second and third largest banks in Poland respectively. The Dutch banking group ING is present in Poland in its own name and it also owns Bank Slaski, with policies from ING’s life subsidiary, Nationale-Nederlanden Poland, sold in all Bank Slaski branches.
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04 August 2008
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Sector stocks benefit from SEC support for beleaguered financials
Insurance and reinsurance stocks staged their most concerted recovery in months during the fortnight ending 24th July. As usual, the marked improvement in the sector’s stock market prospects had very little do with developments within the..
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04 August 2008
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David Sommer, managing director, EMB América Latina
The opening up of the Brazilian reinsurance market to foreign companies in April 2008 has obscured the significance of developments in the country’s primary insurance market over the last decade. Here, David Sommer, an actuary with years of experience in the region, talks about the liberalisation of Brazil’s primary insurance market, the current situation regarding pricing and the setting of tariffs and the extent to which foreign groups are already present in the market. Mr. Sommer also comments on insurance market reform in other countries in the region and considers the issues and challenges which insurance companies in Brazil will have to negotiate in order to comply with the new risk based solvency requirements by 2011
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04 August 2008
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Costa Rica gives final approval to end state monopoly
• New intervention powers for Peru supervisor • First quarter premiums rise in Honduras, Colombia, Uruguay and Venezuela
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04 August 2008
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Legal ruling causes major upset in Chilean health sector
A judge has ruled against age-related premium increases, a standard industry practice that could now be under threat
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04 August 2008
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Opposition party plans workers’ compensation reform
The ACC could lose its monopoly on workers’ compensation business if the National Party wins the next general election
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04 August 2008
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Finance companies postpone interest payments to avoid collapse
More than half of the 44 companies operating two years ago have either failed, or are trying to fight off receivership
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04 August 2008
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Natural disasters recording above average losses during H1 2008
Munich Re says so far this year losses from 400 catastrophes total $50bn compared with a 10-year average of $35bn
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04 August 2008
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CNP Assurances buys stake in Cypriot bank
The French insurer said it hopes to expand Marfin’s banking activities into Eastern Europe
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04 August 2008
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The US sub-prime fallout intensifies for European groups
Swiss Re said it would reveal more details of its US$9.6bn exposure to US mortgage-backed securities in its half-year results
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04 August 2008
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Financial guarantees and cats send underwriting results into the red
Premium levels fall for an “unprecedented” fourth successive quarter as underwriting results slump to $0.6bn loss
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04 August 2008
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Second quarter records highest number of cats in 10 years
The insurance bill is estimated at US$6bn from a total of 16 catastrophes, nearly double the number in the first quarter
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04 August 2008
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Insurers risk depleted loss reserves, study
The combination of recent net releases and continuing adverse development are close to running reserves dry, Conning says
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04 August 2008
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Worst of rate declines could be over, survey finds
Soft market conditions continue in second quarter 2008 but US p/c insurers strong enough to cope with price deterioration
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04 August 2008
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How IT is driving innovation in global insurance markets
Patrick Molineux, Head of Market Development for Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) Financial Services sector, explains how multinational insurers are utilising the product development knowledge of national business units to innovate in new geographic areas in a way that is market-tested and which also gives them first-mover advantage at a significantly lower cost
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04 August 2008
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Transforming problems into opportunities
The insurance broking industry is clearly not immune from the contagions infecting the global economic system. Speaking at the 44th annual seminar of the International Insurance Society in Taiwan, Julian James, chief executive of Lockton..
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04 August 2008
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BUPA wins legal appeal
The Supreme Court ruling states there is no legal basis for the risk equalisation payments by market players to VHI, which have now been suspended
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04 August 2008
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Reinsurers hit hard by capital market turmoil
Primary insurers shouldered the bulk of substantial catastrophe losses in H1 2008
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04 August 2008
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Asia
Equity market fears for Japanese life insurers
Rating agency Moody’s described the outlook for the Japanese life insurance market as stable despite the fact that life companies are now more vulnerable to weak equity market and as well as to..
Online Published Date:
18 August 2008
Appeared in issue:
844 - 18 August 2008
Europe
ZFS buys German private insurer
Zurich Beteiligungs AG (Deutschland), a subsidiary of the Zurich Financial Services Group, is buying the privately-owned German personal accident insurer Baden Badener Versicherung AG for an undisclosed sum. Baden..
Online Published Date:
18 August 2008
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844 - 18 August 2008
North America
US group health rates exceed inflation
Premium rate increases for group health insurance continue to exceed the US government’s official rate of inflation but are lower than premium increases in recent years, a new survey has found. The..
Online Published Date:
18 August 2008
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844 - 18 August 2008
International
Mapping software for terrorism underwriters
The US based Risk modelling firm, Risk Management Solutions (RMS), has launched a new web based application to help terrorism underwriters gauge the accumulation of exposure in their existing portfolios..
Online Published Date:
18 August 2008
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844 - 18 August 2008
Aviation
29.7, emergency landing
Australia: investigators found fragments that appear to bolster the theory that an oxygen tank exploded on board a Qantas Boeing 747-438 (VH-OJK) as it flew over the South China Sea on a flight from London to Sydney. The..
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18 August 2008
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Natural catastrophes
24.7, Hurricane Dolly
US: ports serving two out of three Texas refining centres remained closed due to rough seas from hurricane “Dolly”. Neither the US Coast Guard nor vessel pilots could estimate when the high winds might calm enough..
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18 August 2008
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844 - 18 August 2008
Marine
23.7, collision, oil spill
US: the Coast Guard closed 29 miles of the Mississippi River at New Orleans for six days after combined chemical and oil tank Tintomara and a barge loaded with fuel oil (under tow of tug Mel Oliver) collided, breaking the..
Online Published Date:
18 August 2008
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Liability, awards and settlements
26.7, pollution, charges
US: a federal grand jury in San Francisco returned a second superseding indictment charging Fleet Management Limited, a Hong Kong ship management company, with negligently causing the discharge of 50,000 gallons of oil from..
Online Published Date:
18 August 2008
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844 - 18 August 2008
Property damage and business interruption
22.7, airline strike
Germany: the country’s flag carrier Lufthansa was forced to cancel nearly 1,000 flights due to warning strikes by pilots working for two of its units. Lufthansa said 464 of the 725 scheduled flights on its Eurowings and..
Online Published Date:
18 August 2008
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Arch Capital Group Ltd
The spectacular improvement in Arch Capital’s 2006 results was inevitably going to put pressure on the company’s performance in 2007, particularly with the significant increase in the underwriting capacity that flooded into the market and caused rates to decline in most lines of business. But net favourable development of prior year loss reserves and a great performance on the investment front meant that the group was able to increase its net income in 2007 for the fifth year in succession
Online Published Date:
18 August 2008
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Foreign investors enticed by market transformation
Changes to the insurance law and the approximation of Turkish operating requirements to those of the European Union, including the need for some of the smaller companies to increase their capital, are likely to drive further consolidation and it is expected that the number and nature of companies operating in the market will suffer significant changes over the next few years
Online Published Date:
18 August 2008
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Sector stocks maintain momentum despite focus on AIG losses
For the fortnight ending 7th August, the insurance and reinsurance stocks tracked by WIR, with a few obvious exceptions, pretty much maintained the strong recovery in their value so evident during the previous period.
As in the recent past, the..
Online Published Date:
18 August 2008
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Bolivia returns to drawing board over pension plans
Latin American and Central American countries are posting a mixed bag of results for the first half of this year
Online Published Date:
18 August 2008
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Life insurance blamed for first half earnings plunge
Investment losses are responsible for a 98.6% fall in life insurance earnings during the first half of 2008
Online Published Date:
18 August 2008
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Volatile stock market puts brakes on life insurance development
Life insurance premiums increased by 12% last year, still below the rate of inflation and against growth of 34% in non-life
Online Published Date:
18 August 2008
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844 - 18 August 2008
Dutch reforms drive up Europe’s health insurance spend in 2006
Health insurance premiums collected by European insurers rose by 39% in 2006, but only 3.6% excluding the Netherlands
Online Published Date:
18 August 2008
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Government lands healthcare mutuals with €1bn tax bill
A levy on complementary healthcare policies will help offset the country’s social security deficit
Online Published Date:
18 August 2008
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David Gasson, Secretary General, International Union of Aerospace Insurers (IUAI)
IUAI members account for around 90% of global aerospace insurance premium income and provide insurance cover to airlines, aircraft manufacturers, airports and service providers such as refuellers, caterers and security screeners. Here, David Gasson, the Union’s Secretary General, talks to WIR about the IUAI’s lobbying of governments, the modernising of the Rome Convention and the IUAI’s drive to increase its membership in countries where the aerospace market is currently experiencing rapid growth
Online Published Date:
18 August 2008
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Private companies face increased liability exposure
In the current economic climate, companies should consider whether their liability cover is enough to cover a potential claim
Online Published Date:
18 August 2008
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AIG expects financial market disruption to colour rest of year
The group is in the process of increasing its liquidity position and investing in shorter duration investments
Online Published Date:
18 August 2008
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Making the customer service case for referral fees
There can be no doubt that referral fees have proved to be a good way of generating revenue opportunities for both insurers and accident management companies. But according to David Green, chief executive of MTA Solicitors, whilst referral fees may have initially tempted some to generate more claims to sell, law firms are acutely aware of the rules that surround them and this has minimised bad practices. The introduction of referral fees has generated high levels of competition, with solicitors competing for market share as economies of scale increase the profit position. For Mr. Green, the real questions to address are: has the consumer been adversely affected by law firms having to pay referral fees; and can firms maintain the fees at the current levels?
Online Published Date:
18 August 2008
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Permission to prosper in a tough market
The UK insurance sector is characterised by high customer churn. Last year, just over a quarter of insurance customers in the UK had switched provider over a 12-month period. Insurers are now beginning to deploy online strategies to gain..
Online Published Date:
18 August 2008
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844 - 18 August 2008
Balance sheet stress for Europe’s big three
Munich Re’s reinsurance operations appeared to buck the general trend but the increase in profits was due entirely to an exceptional dividend received from ERGO, the group’s primary insurance division
Online Published Date:
18 August 2008
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844 - 18 August 2008