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Zurich insures Sri Lanka project
Asia
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17 March 2008
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Extending PFI cover
Europe
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17 March 2008
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North America
London market insurance group Beazley is offering US law firms a risk management package which combines legal malpractice insurance cover as well as professional reputation management advisory services. In order to provide the latter, Beazley is..
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Aviation premiums fall
International
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17 March 2008
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Rising risk of corruption
International
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17 March 2008
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Aviation
20.2, aircraft grounded
Singapore: Singapore Airlines said an A380 flight had to be grounded due to a fuel pump defect, the first major technical glitch to ground the world’s largest passenger jet. The carrier said the problem was detected..
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17 March 2008
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Natural catastrophes
20.2, tropical cyclone Ivan
Mozambique: tropical cyclone “Ivan” had been downgraded to a tropical storm as it headed for flood-ravaged Mozambique after killing 60 people on the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar, where it reportedly..
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Marine
19.2, fire, fatalities
Brazil: three Chilean sailors were confirmed dead following a fire on board vehicle carrier Rio Blanco in the port of Santos. Investigators from the Chilean Navy were sent to Brazil to help with the investigation into the..
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17 March 2008
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Liability, awards and settlements
19.2, toxic waste, criminal charges
Netherlands: Dutch prosecutors planned to file criminal charges against oil trading company Trafigura and the Amsterdam council over their roles in the incident involving toxic waste from combined bulk and oil..
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17 March 2008
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Property damage and business interruption
19.2, explosion
US: shares of Alon USA Energy fell to their lowest level in more than a decade after the Dallas-based petroleum refiner announced that its Big Spring refinery in West Central Texas was temporarily shut following an explosion and..
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Axis Capital Holdings
Catastrophe business currently accounts for around 30.0% of the reinsurance division’s income. However, the company learned some profound lessons in 2004 and 2005 and continues to grow the volume of its non-catastrophe exposed business
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17 March 2008
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Cost of compliance forces smaller brokers to consolidate
A number of recent studies have suggested surprisingly high levels of non-insurance and under-insurance in Australia. According to a recent survey by the Insurance Council of Australia, 26% of households in New South Wales have no form of buildings or contents insurance. According to new research by insurer CGU, 65% of small businesses have no consequential loss insurance and most businesses fail to increase their property sums insured on a regular basis
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AIG’s $11.0bn write down scuppers market’s efforts at recovery
It was far from the relentless downward slide as suggested by the closing figures in the table below. Indeed, there were quite a few moments of hope, accompanied by strong recoveries in the value of the insurance and reinsurance stocks tracked by..
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17 March 2008
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Latin American market grew by 20.1% in 2006
The region’s non-life market in 2006 was characterised by strong price competition, although broader factors which contributed to economic development in these countries worked in favour of premium growth
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Net profitability down in Chile, despite increase in premium income
The 19.4% increase in the premium income of Chilean insurers last year (measured in real terms), to a total of US$6.1bn, did not extend to the companies’ bottom line performance.
The 46 companies reporting by the end of February saw their..
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Most of UK ‘blissfully’ unaware of financial risks
The ‘protection gap’ – expressed as the failure to make adequate provision for financial emergencies – is as wide as 20% of personal disposable income in the UK, according to recent calculations by Swiss Re Life & Health.
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Bebear steps down as chairman of Axa
The French group’s underlying earnings rose by 27% last year, reflecting solid growth across all segments
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17 March 2008
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US individual life and annuity sales buoyant
Record sales of variable annuities continued to drive the growth of individual annuity business in 2007, according to LIMRA
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17 March 2008
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Turned down by the banks, Ambac turns to stock market for funds
The company had previously told investors that as a result of market conditions and other factors – including rating agency actions – raising equity capital was not an attractive option
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17 March 2008
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Bancassurance in Japan: Lessons from Europe and the US
√In December 2007, Japan opened up its bancassurance market. Banks have been allowed to sell a limited range of products, primarily annuities and homeowners’ insurance, since the early 2000s, but this recent move represents one of the largest changes to the Japanese markets in the past few years. Here, Catherine Stagg-Macey*, senior analyst with research and advisory firm Celent’s Insurance Group and Neil Katkov*, managing director of Celent’s Asia Research Group, examine the Japanese life and non-life insurance industries against the backdrop of mature bancassurance markets abroad and analyse the critical factors for success
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17 March 2008
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The data security life cycle
Every day sees another headline that illustrates how data protection has been ignored resulting in vital government or corporate data that has been exposed or lost. Yet it is common knowledge that government agencies and private enterprises have a..
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17 March 2008
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Life profits put Hannover Re ahead in Europe
Hannover Re chief executive Wilhelm Zeller was optimistic about the company’s medium term outlook based on what he calls its ‘cycle thermometer’. Mr Zeller noted that the number of non-proportional treaties renewed in January at lower rates had exceeded the number renewed at higher rates for the first time during the present cycle
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17 March 2008
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