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Africa
Losing out to offshore insurers
Although the use of offshore insurance capacity is illegal in Uganda, the local insurance industry nevertheless lost around UShs80bn (US$44.0mn) in premium income in 2004 as a result of local property and business..
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31 March 2006
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784 - 31 March 2006
Middle East
Axa Gulf restructures sales division
Axa Gulf, the GCC based insurance joint venture between the Axa group of France and the Yusuf Bin Ahmed Kanoo trading conglomerate, is reorganising its sales division. Axa Gulf, which until a year ago was a joint..
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31 March 2006
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784 - 31 March 2006
Asia
Shin Kong still keen on China
Shin Kong Financial Holdings, the Taiwanese banking and life insurance group, is continuing its search for a life insurance joint venture partner in China, despite the difficulty in finding a partner willing to invest..
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31 March 2006
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784 - 31 March 2006
Europe
Increased broker transparency
The largest UK buyers of corporate insurance are increasingly proactive in demanding information from their brokers, according to a survey by the Association of Insurance and Risk Managers (AIRMIC). The research found a..
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31 March 2006
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784 - 31 March 2006
North America/Bermuda
Increase in average insured storm loss costs
The California based catastrophe risk modelling consultancy, Risk Management Solutions (RMS), is predicting that insurance losses from storms in the Gulf of Mexico will be 40% higher than average and..
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31 March 2006
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784 - 31 March 2006
International
Global captive survey
The growth in the number of new captive companies is markedly slowing down, according to the US based financial services research consultancy, Advisen Ltd. The number of captives in the world’s top 10 domiciles increased..
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31 March 2006
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784 - 31 March 2006
Aviation
9.3, crash
India, Pakistan: a helicopter of the International Committee of the Red Cross crashed in the earthquake-hit Kashmir, injuring the pilot and the co-pilot. The helicopter was engaged in relief operations in Pakistan controlled Kashmir when..
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31 March 2006
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784 - 31 March 2006
Natural catastrophes
10.3, storms, fatalities
India: lightning killed 11 people and injured eight in the past 24 hours in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, hit by unseasonal rain and hailstorms. The latest deaths, including a 10-year-old girl, brought the..
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31 March 2006
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784 - 31 March 2006
Marine
9.3, sinking, fatalities
Turkey: general cargo carrier Teklivka
(4168 tonnes dwt) which sank with 161 containers was en route from Izmir to Port Said with a crew of 15. Twelve crew members were rescued and three remain missing. The vessel..
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31 March 2006
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784 - 31 March 2006
Liability, awards and settlements
7.3, wrongful imprisonment, settlement
US: a man who was cleared by DNA evidence after serving 10 years in prison for rape settled his lawsuit against the city of Marlborough, Massachusetts, for $2mn. The man sought at least $10mn in damages..
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31 March 2006
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784 - 31 March 2006
Road and rail
15.3, collision, injuries
UK: ten people were injured when two trains collided at a railway station. Lancashire Police said the train from Manchester Airport crashed into the back of a stationary carriage at Blackpool Station. The 10 people were..
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31 March 2006
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784 - 31 March 2006
Property and business interruption
7.3, snowstorms, fatalities
Heavy snow and high winds lashed Europe over two days causing the deaths of at least 17 people in weather related accidents and avalanches in Germany, France, Italy and Switzerland. Thousands of people in France and..
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31 March 2006
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784 - 31 March 2006
Arch Capital Group Ltd
Nearly the group’s entire portfolio is invested in fixed income securities. The idea is to manage the investment portfolio conservatively while taking risks on the underwriting front where risk adjusted returns are more attractive
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31 March 2006
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784 - 31 March 2006
Chubb Corporation
Premium growth in 2004 was largely the result of retaining a higher percentage of existing customers and attracting new customers. This is in contrast to 2003 when premium growth, particularly in the commercial and specialty businesses, was due primarily to higher rates
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31 March 2006
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784 - 31 March 2006
Shaping insurance to the contours of the local culture
The sale of the Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation to the private and locally-based Distilleries Co in 2003 almost completed the process of privatisation of Sri Lanka’s insurance sector
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31 March 2006
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784 - 31 March 2006
The contrasting tales of two companies
Like Amlin, Brit also benefited from reserve releases but analysts worried that these were taken too early
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31 March 2006
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784 - 31 March 2006
Petrobras hits the road in search of improved reinsurance terms
Ace in Brazil • Insurers to meet with Chile’s new president • Market reports on Honduras, Venezuela and Mexico
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31 March 2006
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784 - 31 March 2006
Third-party motor cover not to be denied - IRDA
There are increasing complaints of insurers refusing to issue cover
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31 March 2006
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784 - 31 March 2006
Premium and profit upswing boosts South Korea insurance sector
The world’s 11th largest insurance market is seeing positive growth from its non-life business
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31 March 2006
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784 - 31 March 2006
Equitable Life inquiry begins with questions for EU Commission
Commission grilled over checks on UK’s application of EU life insurance laws as Equitable Life probe gets underway
Online Published Date:
31 March 2006
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784 - 31 March 2006
Life insurance gathers pace after double-digit increase in premiums
The life sector now accounts for 44% of Hungary’s insurance market, strengthening market leader ING’s share to 28%
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31 March 2006
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784 - 31 March 2006
SCOR could look to expand on strength of 2005 profits
The French reinsurer’s strategy is paying dividends • Converium back in black • Zurich US settles broker fee probe
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31 March 2006
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784 - 31 March 2006
Munich and Hannover beat 2005 cat losses, hopes high for 2006
Germany’s top reinsurers are both confident about this year’s results having overcome last year’s hurricane losses
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31 March 2006
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784 - 31 March 2006
Scope of policy protection scheme expanded
Osamu Kanegae of the General Insurance Association of Japan reports on the changes to the country’s general insurance policyholders’ protection scheme
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31 March 2006
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784 - 31 March 2006
What did the Budget do for the insurance industry?
Although lacking in vision, the recent budget speech contained two pieces of good news for the insurance industry. Andrew Green, partner and head of tax at London law firm, Mazars, elaborates on the key messages for the sector
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31 March 2006
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784 - 31 March 2006
Embedding risk management principles into operating procedures
Anita Bradshaw, senior industry risk management consultant at Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) on the practicalities of managing internal risks within the insurance industry
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31 March 2006
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784 - 31 March 2006
Renewing the legacy
Insurance companies’ quest for mobility is often hampered by old mainframe technology saysJulian Dobbins, Senior Marketing Development Manager at Micro Focus, and while strategies have varied in the past, only now is the industry accepting that wide-scale replacement of these systems through rewriting presents an unacceptable level of risk with minimal return on investment. An Age of Pragmatism, it seems, has arrived, with business deliverables, rather than technology, foremost in people’s minds.
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31 March 2006
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784 - 31 March 2006
Cover of witness in Lloyd’s Europe case compromised
The European Parliament’s rules on confidentiality may apply only to information presented by members or by parliamentary staff
Online Published Date:
31 March 2006
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784 - 31 March 2006