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Japanese non-life recovery
Asia
Online Published Date:
03 March 2006
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782 - 03 March 2006
Mutuals account for more than third top 100
Europe
Online Published Date:
03 March 2006
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782 - 03 March 2006
Negative outlook for US and Bermudian markets
North America
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03 March 2006
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782 - 03 March 2006
Aviation
12.2, crash, fatalities
Dominican Republic: three people, including the pilot, died when the Cessna 172 in which they were flying from the Arroyo Barril airport, in Samana, to the terminal of Herrera in Santo Domingo crashed. One of the dead was the..
Online Published Date:
03 March 2006
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782 - 03 March 2006
Natural catastrophes
7.2, snowstorms
China: snowstorms hit most parts of China over two days, shutting expressways in several provinces and delaying hundreds of flights, catching unaware armies of travellers heading back to workplaces after family reunions. Expressways..
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03 March 2006
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782 - 03 March 2006
Marine
10.2, collision, fatalities
Taiwan: eight Chinese fishermen were missing after their fishing boat (Ming Lien Yu
1028) collided with a freighter Ever Bright
(9169 gt, built 1980) near Matsu, a Taiwan-controlled group of islands. Taiwan’s..
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03 March 2006
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782 - 03 March 2006
Liability, awards and settlements
7.2, road traffic accident, compensation
UK: a 38-year-old mother left wheelchair bound after a crash on the M1 motorway in 2002, won £5.5mn in compensation. The woman was paralysed after a van knocked her car off the motorway. The High Court..
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03 March 2006
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782 - 03 March 2006
Road and rail
11.2, derailment, fatalities
Mexico: an empty cargo train derailed in western Mexico, killing one person and injuring two others. Jalisco state official said that 17 cars derailed 70 miles from Guadalajara. It is unclear what caused the derailment...
Online Published Date:
03 March 2006
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782 - 03 March 2006
Property and business interruption
8.2, explosion, fatalities
Russia: a total of 12 people were killed when a military barracks collapsed in Russia’s Chechnya region after what appeared to be a domestic gas explosion. Twenty-two people were injured when the two-storey building..
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03 March 2006
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782 - 03 March 2006
Zurich Financial Services
An impressive net income result masked a tough year for both the group’s non-life and life businesses
Online Published Date:
03 March 2006
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782 - 03 March 2006
Ace Ltd
While 2004 proved to be another record year for property catastrophe losses and the group had to boost its A&E reserves further, Bermuda based Ace Ltd was in better shape than it had been in the years leading up to 2003
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03 March 2006
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782 - 03 March 2006
Chad: market development inhibited by outside insurance of oil industry infrastructure and related risks
The market leader is a mixed company, in spite of the requirements of the CIMA legislation to separate short-term and long-term activity; there is not enough life business to warrant a separate company.
Online Published Date:
03 March 2006
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782 - 03 March 2006
Drop in average life expectation prompts increase in policy cancellations and surrenders
Insurers are facing competition from mobile phone and electronic goods companies. The huge impact of Aids/HIV in the country is believed to have given rise to an attitude which favours short term consumption over provision for the future.
Online Published Date:
03 March 2006
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782 - 03 March 2006
Market finally acknowledges potential in Alea run-off
But at 55 pence the Alea share price has clearly dropped to a level that the market can live with
Online Published Date:
03 March 2006
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782 - 03 March 2006
Tripartite dialogue key to achieving new contract certainty deadline
Allianz Global Risks UK is promoting its own roadmap to contract certainty, involving the positive adoption of tripartite relationships. David Hall, director of Client & Broker Relationships at Allianz Global Risks UK, outlines how it believes the insurance industry could fall short of the Financial Services Authority’s demand for contract certainty if there is not widespread commitment to this key strategy
Online Published Date:
03 March 2006
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782 - 03 March 2006
Mapfre’s Latin American business doubles profits in 2005
Investment begins to pay off for Spanish insurer • Venezuelan premiums up • Colombian earnings surge 201% in 2005
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03 March 2006
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782 - 03 March 2006
Chilean pension fund industry braces for reform
New president wants change • M&A activity expected to be strong in 2006 • Private medical policyholder numbers decline
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03 March 2006
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782 - 03 March 2006
Reinsurers drive hard bargain in negotiations for cover
General insurers secure reinsurance cover but find themselves at the mercy of tougher terms and IRDA stipulations
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03 March 2006
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782 - 03 March 2006
Suncorp results indicate end of good times, QBE thrives
Profits tailed off at Suncorp during H2 • New rules to increase regulator’s oversight of industry set for October
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03 March 2006
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782 - 03 March 2006
Hurricane phase expected to last for another 10 to 30 years
At US$83bn in 2005 (compared with $48bn the year before), insured catastrophe losses take on a new dimension
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03 March 2006
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782 - 03 March 2006
EC says it will free up fund managers to address pensions crisis
The Commission, prompted by the European Parliament, promises a White Paper by the autumn of this year
Online Published Date:
03 March 2006
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782 - 03 March 2006
Insurers diversify business lines to meet new demand
Spanish insurance market is expected to outgrow the country’s economy, according to a new report from analyst S&P
Online Published Date:
03 March 2006
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782 - 03 March 2006
Munich Re treaty renewal rates up 3%, driven by hurricane risks
Reinsurer renews 66% of treaties • Converium clears majority of renewals • Old Mutual executive to head Skandia
Online Published Date:
03 March 2006
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782 - 03 March 2006
Goshawk Dedicated Ltd v Tyser & Co: the Court of Appeal clarifies underwriters’ right of access to brokers’ records
On 7 February 2006 the Court of Appeal allowed underwriters’ appeal for access to brokers’ documents, restoring the position which many consider had represented the custom and practice in the Lloyd’s market for centuries. Claire Roake*
of Mills & Reeve looks first at the decision in Goshawk v Tyser, before considering the practical implications of the case from the perspective of both brokers and underwriters
Online Published Date:
03 March 2006
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782 - 03 March 2006
Global regulators must work together
The blurring of business lines coupled with globalisation have demanded change from the regulatory systems that oversee the financial services industry. Supervisors can no longer take an isolated view of a market, and the trend is increasingly..
Online Published Date:
03 March 2006
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782 - 03 March 2006
Massive hurricane losses for cat specialists
PXRE shares which were trading at $25 last August are now worth just over $3, having fallen vertically after the additional hurricane losses were announced
Online Published Date:
03 March 2006
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782 - 03 March 2006
Regional reinsurer
Middle East
Online Published Date:
17 March 2006
Appeared in issue:
783 - 17 March 2006
Ready to move into India
Asia
Online Published Date:
17 March 2006
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783 - 17 March 2006
Modernisation of Lloyd’s is the main priority
Europe
Online Published Date:
17 March 2006
Appeared in issue:
783 - 17 March 2006
Property insurers in Florida feel pressure
North America/Bermuda
Online Published Date:
17 March 2006
Appeared in issue:
783 - 17 March 2006
Aviation
23.2, crash, fatalities
US: two men were killed and a woman was injured when their Cessna 172S (Skyhawk) crashed while preparing to land at a suburban airport near Washington, DC, during a brief snowstorm. The aircraft had taken off from Warrenton...
Online Published Date:
17 March 2006
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783 - 17 March 2006
Natural catastrophes
22.2, landslides, fatalities
South East Asia: landslides and floods triggered by torrential rain killed at least 24 people in Indonesia’s eastern city of Manado. The disaster occurred in the North Sulawesi provincial capital, where parts of..
Online Published Date:
17 March 2006
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783 - 17 March 2006
Marine
21.2, ferry sinking, black box recovered
Egypt: French and British experts working for the International Maritime Organisation recovered the black box from passenger ro/ro Al Salam Boccaccio 98
, which sank in the Red Sea in February with the loss..
Online Published Date:
17 March 2006
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783 - 17 March 2006
Liability, awards and settlements
23.2, bus injury, payout
US: the Chicago Transit Authority agreed to pay $5mn to a University of Chicago student who was severely injured after she was struck by a CTA bus in Hyde Park in 2001. The student was bicycling to class on Hyde Park..
Online Published Date:
17 March 2006
Appeared in issue:
783 - 17 March 2006
Road and rail
27.2, head on collision, injuries
Argentina: two trains crashed head-on in the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires, injuring over 20 people. The accident occurred on a railway bridge in the upscale district of Palermo. According to railway officers, a..
Online Published Date:
17 March 2006
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783 - 17 March 2006
Property and business interruption
21.2, hospital fire deaths, charge
China: police charged four people with selling low-quality electrical cables that sparked a fire in a hospital in December which killed 39 people. Patients were forced to jump out of windows to escape the blaze at..
Online Published Date:
17 March 2006
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783 - 17 March 2006
Late reports
18.2, helicopter crash, fatalities
Uzbekistan: a helicopter crashed in southwest Uzbekistan, killing five people on board. The crash happened 15 km from the mining town of Zarafshon and investigations for the causes of the incident were underway...
Online Published Date:
17 March 2006
Appeared in issue:
783 - 17 March 2006
Allstate Corporation
While the group is optimistic about the prospect of its motor business, it keeps a wary eye on its homeowners’ insurance portfolios, conducting continual reviews of the business to determine future profitability
Online Published Date:
17 March 2006
Appeared in issue:
783 - 17 March 2006
Royal & SunAlliance
Although R&SA finally divested itself of its life insurance operations in 2004, life insurance nevertheless contributed 14% of the £6.0bn that the group generated in net premium income
Online Published Date:
17 March 2006
Appeared in issue:
783 - 17 March 2006
Financial groups create synergies between insurers and banks
Consolidation in the Belgian life market has resulted in 82.0% of the market being in the control of just six groups
Online Published Date:
17 March 2006
Appeared in issue:
783 - 17 March 2006
Diversity strikes right note with insurance sector investors
Although its reinsurance operations suffered heavy losses, Berkshire’s primary insurance businesses came to the rescue
Online Published Date:
17 March 2006
Appeared in issue:
783 - 17 March 2006
Market closes 2005 with flat premiums and earnings down 24%
The Chilean economy is booming but insurers are seeing little benefit as low investment returns pressure profits
Online Published Date:
17 March 2006
Appeared in issue:
783 - 17 March 2006
Motor insurance behind 36% rise in 2004 premiums
Market premiums surge to IR17,311bn but losses are also escalating, with motor claims representing 70% of total losses
Online Published Date:
17 March 2006
Appeared in issue:
783 - 17 March 2006
EU Services Directive in home straight to final legislation
The Council of Ministers will now review the 180 changes made by the European Parliament during its first reading
Online Published Date:
17 March 2006
Appeared in issue:
783 - 17 March 2006
Irish market reports increase in profits, premium income mixed
Underwriting results look strong against a background of declining rates but reserve releases boost headline profits
Online Published Date:
17 March 2006
Appeared in issue:
783 - 17 March 2006
Japanese earthquake insurance contracts exceed 10 million
Osamu Kanegae
of the General Insurance Association of Japan reports on the increase in earthquake insurance cover
Online Published Date:
17 March 2006
Appeared in issue:
783 - 17 March 2006
Opportunity Cost – Opportunities Lost
Even in the UK, the most sophisticated run-off market in the world, there is still the assumption that run-off is essentially a one-off phenomenon, rather than a perennial consequence of the cyclical nature of the insurance market. Philip Grant*
draws attention to an ill-lit and disregarded corner of insurance groups’ balance sheets where significant amounts of capital are being tied up
Online Published Date:
17 March 2006
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783 - 17 March 2006
The coming of age of the US-EU dialogue
With the recent news that US insurance regulators are to develop alternatives to the current reinsurance collateral rules imposed on foreign reinsurers by the end of this year, the outlook for the success of the US-EU regulatory dialogue looks..
Online Published Date:
17 March 2006
Appeared in issue:
783 - 17 March 2006
Insurers oppose tax charge
There is concern that the charge could put Indian insurers’ solvency ratios under pressure, especially at a time when IRDA is keen to increase local capitalisation
Online Published Date:
17 March 2006
Appeared in issue:
783 - 17 March 2006
Hurricane losses contained by big two
As befits a company soon to become the world’s largest reinsurer, Swiss Re was keen to emphasise the benefits of size
Online Published Date:
17 March 2006
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783 - 17 March 2006
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..
Online Published Date:
31 March 2006
Appeared in issue:
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..
Online Published Date:
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..
Online Published Date:
31 March 2006
Appeared in issue:
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..
Online Published Date:
31 March 2006
Appeared in issue:
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..
Online Published Date:
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..
Online Published Date:
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..
Online Published Date:
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..
Online Published Date:
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..
Online Published Date:
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..
Online Published Date:
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..
Online Published Date:
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..
Online Published Date:
31 March 2006
Appeared in issue:
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
Online Published Date:
31 March 2006
Appeared in issue:
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
Online Published Date:
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
Online Published Date:
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
Online Published Date:
31 March 2006
Appeared in issue:
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
Online Published Date:
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
Online Published Date:
31 March 2006
Appeared in issue:
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
Online Published Date:
31 March 2006
Appeared in issue:
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
Appeared in issue:
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%
Online Published Date:
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
Online Published Date:
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
Online Published Date:
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
Online Published Date:
31 March 2006
Appeared in issue:
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
Online Published Date:
31 March 2006
Appeared in issue:
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
Online Published Date:
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.
Online Published Date:
31 March 2006
Appeared in issue:
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
Appeared in issue:
784 - 31 March 2006