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Risk transfer in the context of climate change
Climate change is now recognized as a critical issue for the global insurance and reinsurance companies. For example, in 2005, a record amount of more than US$100bn was paid out by the insurance industry to help the international community cope..
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12 October 2007
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823 - 12 October 2007
Resistance to hike in FDI
The Indian insurance unions are also demanding that the four public sector general insurance companies be merged into one to make a strong company
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12 October 2007
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New genetic protocol for insurance industry
The heated debate over whether insurers should be informed of test results indicating a genetic predisposition to critical illnesses will be reignited
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12 October 2007
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MAS enhances role of appointed actuaries
Asia
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12 October 2007
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UK bodily injury claims costs rise for insurers
Europe
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12 October 2007
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Willis buys Swiss broker
Europe
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12 October 2007
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Flagstone Re links with South African firm
North America
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12 October 2007
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Munich Re America restructures
North America
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12 October 2007
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Aviation
18.9, Phuket airport crash
Thailand: the pilot of the Thai airliner that crashed on the resort island of Phuket was warned of possibly dangerous wind conditions at the airport but decided to land anyway, according to a transcript of the conversation..
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12 October 2007
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Natural catastrophes
20.9, Typhoon Goring
China: Typhoon “Goring” weakened as it slammed the country with strong winds and torrential rains. At least nine people were reported killed as the storm destroyed thousands of homes and triggered landslides. Around..
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12 October 2007
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Marine
20.9, explosion, fatalities
Netherlands Antilles: at least five people died and nine were injured as a result of an explosion on diving support vessel, Seamec II
under repair in the port of Curacao. Firefighters sought to put out the blaze that..
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12 October 2007
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Liability, awards and settlements
21.9, guilty plea
US: Accord Ship Management, the India-based vessel operator of general cargo Sportsqueen
(12666 gt, built 1979), and the vessel’s chief engineer pleaded guilty in connection with the illegal dumping of oily sludge, bilge..
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12 October 2007
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Property damage and business interruption
18.9, fire
South Africa: the Island View oil depot in Durban caught fire and quickly spread to three storage tanks in the vicinity. The tanks later exploded. It was not immediately clear how the fire started. According to early reports a road tanker..
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12 October 2007
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Late reports
13.9, Hurricane Humberto
US: Hurricane “Humberto” shut three US refineries in Texas, sending oil prices to a record high on the New York Mercantile Exchange. NYMEX crude oil futures climbed as much as 29 cents to a record $80.20 per..
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12 October 2007
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Brit Insurance Holdings
Brit’s management is adamant that the risk appetite constraints imposed on the group in 2006 will not be materially relaxed for 2007 on the back of a single benign year
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12 October 2007
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Sharp rise in the level of foreign ownership in the market likely to put pressure on local companies to be more profitable
In 2006 and 2007 the structure of the Salvadoran market changed radically. Most of the local financial groups involving banks and insurance companies were purchased by foreign banks or financial groupings. There are currently only three insurance companies in local hands
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12 October 2007
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Mild Atlantic hurricane season boost US insurance stocks
The insurance and reinsurance stocks, particularly in Europe and Asia, tracked by WIR posted record gains for the fortnight ending 4 October as investors responded positively to a number of issues mainly related to US economic prospects.
Despite the..
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12 October 2007
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GIC launches African expansion plans with stake in East Africa Re
GIC is targeting strategic stakes in Africa • GIC reports underwriting losses • Health insurance to be second in size to motor
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12 October 2007
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Builders face compulsory payments to homeowners’ insurance fund
The government is concerned that a homebuilding scandal two years ago is not repeated • Another finance house closes
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12 October 2007
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Joint venture insurers increase market share to 7.1%
There are 24 foreign insurers compared with 24 local • Munich Re opens takaful branch in Malaysia • Allianz buys Kazakh firm
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12 October 2007
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Local insurers branch out with regional acquisitions
Triglav, Slovenica Zivljenje and Sava Re are buying up smaller insurers in former Yugoslavia, Romania, Bulgaria and Slovakia
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12 October 2007
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Child trust schemes offer boost to friendly societies
Friendly societies administer nearly half of the outstanding CTF deposits with low costs attracting a major following
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12 October 2007
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Generali to restructure in bid to raise net profits to €4bn by 2009
the group is reorganising its operations in Italy and appointing a chief operating officer for the country • DAS
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12 October 2007
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Non-life business outpaces life insurance to take market over €1trn
The growth in non-life business appears a one-off phenomenon, once the effect of the Dutch healthcare market is stripped out
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12 October 2007
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Reinsurance supervision moves towards single-state licensing
Plans are also on the agenda to provide a framework for mutual recognition of non-US jurisdictions
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12 October 2007
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Insurers suffers record low in first half premium growth
The low level of volume growth in the first half had a detrimental effect on the industry’s underwriting results
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12 October 2007
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Outbreak of global pandemic is way overdue
According to the Marsh-Albright Group report, the scientific consensus is that an avian pandemic could affect 20% of the world’s population, result in absenteeism of 40% of the global workforce, and kill tens, if not hundreds, of millions of people
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12 October 2007
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IT growth trends in the Chinese insurance market
Small and midsize insurance firms in China, which include jointly funded and foreign-funded companies, have faster growth rates than their larger counterparts, and their investment ratio for IT is also higher. According to Wenli Yuan
, a senior analyst at technology consultancy firm, Celent, these companies generally do not have the burden of having to make serious reforms to the old systems. From their incorporation, they operate on an open platform, with data that is consolidated at the headquarters. Some of these companies also adopt centralized operations. From this perspective, small and midsize insurance companies find it easier to accept new technology. This, argues Ms Yuan, is their late development advantage
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12 October 2007
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Air India seeks fog insurance for five-month period
Last year Oriental Insurance covered the risk of fog affecting flights and Air India is looking for a similar policy for 2007
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26 October 2007
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824 - 26 October 2007
Questionable financial standing and the rules of disclosure
In Harcourt v FEF Griffin
, a claimant sought an order from the UK High Court to compel the defendant to disclose the nature and extent of its insurance cover. In his decision, the judge ruled that the claimant was entitled to have access to details of the defendants’ insurance cover. Maxine Cupitt
, partner, and Daniel Spendlove
, associate, in the insurance and reinsurance group of law firm CMS Cameron McKenna LLP, consider the implications of the judgement as well as the extent to which the outcome of this case was influenced by its particular facts
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26 October 2007
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Valuing and protecting success
The year 2001, with all its horror, marked a watershed in the history of the Lloyd’s insurance market and led to the creation of the market’s Franchise.
Rolf Tolle
, Lloyd’s first Franchise Performance Director, recently explained..
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26 October 2007
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Where to site Re centre?
Brazil’s National Private Insurance Council is due to release the draft of a resolution to regulate reinsurance business in the country in 2008, but the cities of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro are already in fierce competition to be the centre of the market
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26 October 2007
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Life insurers found wanting in money laundering survey
French life insurers reported around 500 suspicious transactions last year, local banks, on the other hand, flagged more than 10,000 cases over the same period
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26 October 2007
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Regional reinsurance market outlook stable, according to Fitch
Asia Pacific
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26 October 2007
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Endurance appointment to drive Asia growth
Asia Pacific
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26 October 2007
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SCOR Switzerland ceases quarterly accounts ahead of delisting
Europe
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26 October 2007
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Guy Carpenter fac unit makes new appointments
Europe
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26 October 2007
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Regulation has damaged competitiveness, survey
North America
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26 October 2007
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Arch Insurance Bermuda president to retire
North America
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26 October 2007
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Zurich appoints new captive leader
North America
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26 October 2007
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Aviation
2.10, crash report
US: the crash of a Hawaii Air Ambulance into a Kahului, Maui, car dealership last year that killed three people was probably caused by the failure of the pilot to execute an emergency procedure for a twin-engine aircraft when it..
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26 October 2007
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Natural catastrophes
2.10, volcanic eruption, fatalities
Yemen: the western part of the tiny Jabal al-Tair island, used as a military base, collapsed following the eruption of a volcano which killed at six Yemeni soldiers and spewed lava hundreds of metres into the air...
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26 October 2007
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Marine
2.10, shipwrecked barge, fatalities
Russia: the bodies of two more crew members of shipwrecked general cargo vessel Kvarts
were found, bringing the total death toll to four. The bodies of the sailors were discovered on the coastline of a village in..
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26 October 2007
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Liability, awards and settlements
2.10, Phuket crash, claims for compensation
Thailand: US lawyers have filed the first of several lawsuits against aircraft maker Boeing seeking compensation for victims of the recent Thai plane crash. More than 100 survivors and victims’..
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26 October 2007
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Property damage and business interruption
8.10, toxic fumes, fatalities
Mexico: three workers from the Mexican oil monopoly Pemex were killed by inhaling toxic fumes when the gas pipeline they were working on sustained a leak. The workers were repairing the Potrero del Llano-Naranjos..
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26 October 2007
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Late reports
27.9, floods
Sudan: the worst floods in living memory in Sudan killed 150 people, made hundreds of thousands homeless and cost the country an estimated $300.0mn in damages. The latter include damage to 1,748 public buildings. Heavy and early..
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26 October 2007
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Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd
Although its reinsurance operations continue to constitute the core of the group’s business, Endurance has increased the size of its primary insurance portfolio by over 60% over the last three years
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26 October 2007
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Ongoing political crisis fails to deter the influx of new companies into local insurance market
There has been some concern about whether the political tensions in the country would undermine business and insurance activity, but the latest figures for economic activity still suggest that the local economy grew by some 1.2% in 2006, and will grow by 1.4% in 2007 and 2.0% in 2008
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26 October 2007
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Berkshire exception as sub-prime crisis escalates
The insurance and reinsurance stocks tracked by WIR which posted record gains a fortnight earlier, pretty much crashed straight back into the shadows from where they had so spectacularly emerged as the investment community, briefly upbeat, once more..
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26 October 2007
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Insurers’ profits rise 44% to top US$100mn
Premium income reached US$770.1mn, up 16.5%, thanks to the dynamic development of the Central American economies • Argentina • Uruguay • Brazil • Colombia
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26 October 2007
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Membership increase fails to lift Chilean health insurance sector
Only one ISAPRE saw an increase in earnings • New rules for insurer loans • Bolivia to extend family health cover
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26 October 2007
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SBI Life Insurance plans to boost paid-up capital
Extra capital will sustain growth • Birla Sun Life expands capital base • Oriental triples bank deal income
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26 October 2007
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Finance company battles for survival as investor confidence slides
Geneva Finance says the investor market has dried up following the recent wave of collapsed firms
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26 October 2007
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Fatalities decline despite rise in natural catastrophes
Official emphasis on disaster planning • CIRC relaxes aviation accident insurance rules
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26 October 2007
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London market increasingly regards Nordic region as key area
A marine market in its own right, the Nordic region is also seen as the gateway to the growing promise of the Russian market
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26 October 2007
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Insurers’ profits rise by 8% in first half of 2007
Underwriting results also improved • Mapfre: More than half of profits should come from overseas operations by 2012
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26 October 2007
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Solvency II proposals have power to affect global change, CEA
Insurers welcome risk-based proposals • Bancassurance grows in popularity • Munich Re issues Tokyo earthquake bond
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26 October 2007
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Munich Re acquires specialty insurer in US profitability drive
The reinsurer wants a leading position in specialty primary market • CEA outlook improves • Q3 cat losses total $1.13bn
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26 October 2007
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Specialty programme business attracts renewed interest
The sector is seeing a continued flow of new capital resulting in the emergence of new markets and merger activity
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26 October 2007
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