Latest Asia Headlines
All the headlines from our Asia Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Cotter to Head New Allied World Hong Kong Branch
Mar 27 2009 // Allied World Assurance Company Holdings announced the opening of a branch office in Hong Kong in order to expand its operations into Asia. Bill Cotter, Senior Vice President, Asia, will oversee all Asian insurance...
Bank of East Asia to Buy AIG’s Taiwan Securities Unit
Mar 26 2009 // The Bank of East Asia said on Thursday that it has signed a deal to buy the Taiwan securities arm of American International Group as the ailing U.S. insurance giant sells assets to raise cash. “The deal is subject to...
AIG’s Top Asia Executive Tse Retires
Mar 20 2009 // Edmund Tse, the top American International Group Inc. executive in Asia, is retiring, the troubled insurer said on Friday. Tse, who is in his early 70s, has worked at AIG since 1961, and was once considered a top candidate...
Swiss Re <em>sigma</em> Study Tallies Catastrophic 2008
Mar 18 2009 // Swiss Re has just released its latest sigma study, which details the toll of disasters that made 2008 “one of the worst years for catastrophe losses” according to the report. More than 240,500 people lost their...
AIG’s Hopes for Sale of Asian Life Unit AIA Rest With 3 Bidders
Feb 25 2009 // Three potential bidders remain interested in the sale of a large stake in American International Group’s $20 billion Asian life insurance unit, people close to the matter said on Wednesday, as the auction heads into...
AIG Seen Willing to Give Up Majority Control of Asia ‘Jewel’ AIA
Feb 24 2009 // American International Group Inc., facing massive losses and seeking fresh funds, may be willing to give up control of its prized Asian division, worth about $20 billion, said sources with direct knowledge of the...
Demographic Shift Offers Opportunity for Agents
Feb 22 2009 // Minorities Destined to Become Majority by Mid-Century Before the 21st century reaches the half-way mark, more than 50 percent of the population of the United States will be represented by a vast cultural mix of people...
UK’s Prudential Sells Taiwan Insurance Units
Feb 20 2009 // Taiwan’s China Life will buy most of Prudential Plc’s local insurance business, with the UK firm taking around a 10 percent stake in China Life, valued at T$2.18 billion ($64 million), the companies said. The...
Marine Insurance Group Sees ‘Tough Times’ for Insurers
Feb 2 2009 // According to Deirdre Littlefield, president of the International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI), “While the insurance industry may be more insulated from failure than others in the financial sector, it will not...
Ratings Recap II: Chaucer, MSIG, Congregational, Top Layer, Asia Capital
Jan 30 2009 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has issued a bulletin indicating that “its ‘3’ Lloyd’s Syndicate Assessment (LSA) on Chaucer – Syndicate 1084 is not affected by the announcement...
Ex-CEO Greenberg Protests AIG Sale of Asian Life ‘Crown Jewel’
Jan 23 2009 // Former AIG Chief Executive Maurice “Hank” Greenberg said in a letter Thursday the insurer should halt asset sales until the new administration in Washington can assess what is best for the now...
Ratings Roundup: Syndicate 0780, Munich Re Italy, NIPPONKOA, Exchange, Aerial Re, Colonial, Bay Haven
Jan 20 2009 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has revised its outlook on the Lloyd’s Syndicate Assessment (LSA) on Advent Underwriting – Syndicate 0780 to stable from positive. S&P also affirmed the...
UK’s Insurance Institute Report Sees ‘Shallow’ U.S., Asia Recovery
Jan 9 2009 // The UK’s Chartered Insurance Institute has released its latest Thinkpiece report, the first of a series of six international articles in association with the London-based think tank Chatham House. It concludes that...
Corporate Fraud Scandals Can Detonate Anywhere
Jan 9 2009 // When it comes to corporate fraud scandals, nowhere is safe. Revelations of a $1 billion fraud at Indian IT firm Satyam Computer Services do not point to a higher systemic risk of accounting scandals in India, or even in...
Aon Names Finnamore for Risk Management in Far East, Asia, Australia
Dec 15 2008 // Aon Corp. announced that Jim Finnamore will join the firm in January as regional director of Aon Environmental Services Group, Asia-Pacific. He will be based in Singapore and will coordinate the delivery of the...
AIG CEO Liddy Says Asset Sales May Be Delayed
Dec 11 2008 // The CEO of U.S. insurer American International Group (AIG), which is looking to shed assets around the globe as part of a $152 billion U.S. government rescue package, said that difficult markets may delay the sale plans,...
Best Releases Study of Asian Insurers
Dec 2 2008 // A.M. best Co. has issued a new study of Asian insurance companies, which concludes that they “are expected to avoid major liquidity problems stemming from the global financial crisis, but investment income will...
Munich Re Sees Reinsurance Opportunities from Financial Crisis
Nov 25 2008 // A bulletin on Munich Re’s web site (www.munichre.com) opens as follows: “The financial crisis has sent stock markets plunging around the world and resulted in growing levels of risk aversion. Stringent risk...
ICC Asia Pacific CEO Forum Says Unlock Liquidity to Spur Global Trade
Nov 25 2008 // The first Regional CEO Forum for Asia-Pacific held by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in Hong Kong Saturday called for an immediate response to the financial meltdown by unlocking liquidity and getting trade...
Ratings Recap: Malaysian Re, Asia Capital Re, AGS (Diageo), NEMI
Nov 25 2008 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating of ‘A-‘ (Excellent) and the issuer credit rating of “a-” of Malaysian Reinsurance Berhad (Malaysian Re), both with stable outlooks....
