Latest Asia Headlines
All the headlines from our Asia Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Hong Kong’s Li Returns to Insurance with $2.1 Billion ING Deal
Oct 19 2012 // Hong Kong businessman Richard Li, the younger son of Asia’s richest man, is buying ING’s Hong Kong, Macau and Thailand insurance units for $2.14 billion in cash, bringing the Dutch financial services company a...
Hong Kong’s Li Nears $2 Billion Acquisition of ING Units: Reuters
Oct 18 2012 // Hong Kong businessman Richard Li, younger son of Asia’s richest man Li Ka-shing, is nearing a deal to buy ING’s Hong Kong and Thailand business for over $2 billion, sources with direct knowledge of the matter...
ING to Sell Malaysian Insurance Unit to AIA for $1.73 Billion
Oct 11 2012 // Pan Asian insurer AIA Group Ltd has agreed to buy ING’s Malaysian insurance operations for $1.73 billion in cash, handing the Dutch financial services firm its first deal in a nine-month drive to sell off Asian...
India’s Battered Insurers May Need More than Foreign Investment
Oct 10 2012 // India’s proposal to allow more foreign investment in its $41 billion insurance business provides a lifeline for an industry starved of capital and squeezed by regulation – but it may not pass parliament and it...
Aon Benfield’s Monthly Cat Recap Focuses on $7.5 Billion Asian Flood Losses
Oct 5 2012 // Asian flood losses during the third quarter of 2012 aggregated more than $7.5 billion in economic losses, of which China was the worst hit by two separate flood events that affected several provinces. “The most...
CPC Forecasts Weak El Niño for Northern Hemisphere Winter
Oct 5 2012 // The U.S. national weather forecaster still expects the much-feared El Niño phenomenon, which can wreak havoc on global weather, to remain weak into the Northern Hemisphere winter, even after its development slowed last...
AIR Worldwide Opens Singapore Office to Expand in Asia-Pacific
Oct 1 2012 // AIR Worldwide announced the opening of an office in Singapore to meet the expanding needs of clients in the Asian insurance market. “AIR has kept pace with the fast-growing markets and our equally fast-growing client...
Ameriprise in Talks to Buy ING’s Asian Asset Management Arm – Report
Sep 27 2012 // Ameriprise Financial Inc is in advanced talks to buy most of ING Group’s asset management business in Asia, Bloomberg reported, citing two people with knowledge of the matter. The companies are still negotiating on...
Aon Hewitt Opens New Office in Indonesia
Sep 18 2012 // Aon Hewitt, the global human resource solutions business of Aon plc, has opened a new office in Jakarta, Indonesia, as part of its regional expansion strategy. “The fast growing economy of Indonesia offers Aon Hewitt...
Myanmar to Open Insurance Sector to Foreigners in 2015
Sep 14 2012 // Myanmar will allow foreign investors into its insurance sector by around 2015 once local private insurers have had time to establish themselves, a senior government official told Reuters. “We need to give these local...
Swiss Re’s Chief Economist on the State of the Global Economy
Sep 14 2012 // “The European debt crisis is affecting the global economy, definitely,” said Kurt Karl, Swiss Re’s chief economist in an interview at the recent Reinsurance Rendezvous in Monte Carlo. He did indicate that...
Commentary by Gordon Brown:* Europe Risks Going the Way of Japan
Sep 14 2012 // The good news is that Europe is no longer going the way of Greece. The sad news is that it is threatening to go the way of Japan. After years of hesitation punctuated by panic, Europe has finally accepted the compelling...
Asia’s Insurers Hiring While Bankers Face the Axe
Sep 10 2012 // Slowing economic growth across much of Asia has failed to crimp expansion plans by the region’s insurance companies, even as the rest of the financial industry slashes jobs. While banks and brokerages cut costs and...
U.S. Weather Forecaster Downgrades El Nino Impact
Sep 7 2012 // The U.S. government forecaster has issued its most definitive report since first raising the El Niño alert three months ago, forecasting a weak phenomenon that will last until the Northern Hemisphere spring. The latest...
AIG Sells AIA Shares at Surpise Premium, Raises $2 Billion
Sep 7 2012 // American International Group Inc. said it raised $2.02 billion through the sale of a partial stake in its former Asian unit AIA Group Ltd, placing the shares at a surprise premium although analysts were disappointed at the...
Commentary: Iran Confident It Is Winning Sanctions War
Sep 4 2012 // Despite ludicrous claims to the contrary, Western sanctions have hurt Iran’s crude oil exports, but it’s also not all gloom and doom. In unsurprising, but obviously factually incorrect, remarks, the director of...
Fitch Notes Reinsurers More Risk-Focused For More Asian Catastrophes
Aug 23 2012 // Fitch Ratings has issued a statement which points out that the “spate of Asia-Pacific catastrophes in the past two years have prompted reinsurers to take stock of their existing portfolio and re-evaluate their...
Asia’s Iran Crude Oil Imports to Regain Levels Prior to EU Insurance Ban
Aug 22 2012 // Asia’s crude imports from Iran are set to recover in September to levels reached before a July 1 insurance ban by the European Union plunged trade with the Islamic Republic into uncertainty not seen in decades. Top...
Best Upgrades NIPPONKOA’s Ratings to ‘A+’; Affirms Subs
Aug 22 2012 // A.M. Best Co. has upgraded the financial strength rating (FSR) to ‘A+’ (Superior) from ‘A’ (Excellent) and the issuer credit rating (ICR) to “aa-” from “a+” of Japan’s...
El Nino Seen Having ‘Modest Impact’ on Australia
Aug 21 2012 // An emerging El Nino weather pattern is likely to have only a modest impact on crops and mining in Australia and could benefit sugar cane growers in Queensland, a senior forecaster said. Drier conditions have already...
