Latest Australia Headlines
All the headlines from our Australia Topic Page, ordered by recency.
PERILS Releases Industry Exposure Database 2020, Now Including Australia Motor
Apr 28 2020 // PERILS AG, the independent Zurich-based company that provides industry-wide catastrophe insurance data, has released its Industry Exposure Database 2020. The database contains up-to-date information about property sums...
Insurance Australia Group, AMMB Seek to Sell Their Malaysian Auto Insurer: Sources
Apr 15 2020 // The owners of AmGeneral Insurance Bhd., Malaysia’s second-biggest auto insurer, have restarted a sale process and are seeking as much as $1 billion for the company, people with knowledge of the matter said. Kuala...
Australia’s Westpac Expects $578M Fine for Money Laundering Linked to Child Abuse
Apr 14 2020 // Australia’s Westpac Banking Corp said it expects a A$900 million ($578 million) fine over accusations it enabled millions of illegal payments including between known child sex offenders, the first time it has put a...
Australia Insurer IAG Announces CEO Harmer to Retire; Hawkins Named Deputy CEO
Apr 8 2020 // Australian insurer IAG announced that Peter Harmer, managing director and chief executive officer, plans to retire by the end of 2020. A flexible nine-month period of transition has been agreed with Harmer to ensure a...
Australia Regulator Urges Insurers, Banks to Defer Dividends Amid Coronavirus Crisis
Apr 7 2020 // Australia’s prudential regulator on Tuesday asked banks and insurers to consider deferring dividend payouts or use buffers like dividend reinvestment plans until the impact of the coronavirus pandemic is better...
BHSI Launches Professional Technology Liability Cover in Australia, New Zealand
Apr 6 2020 // Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI) announced that it has launched Professional First Technology Liability Insurance policies in Australia and New Zealand. Both policies offer broad, customizable professional...
Insurance Claims for February’s Australian ‘East Coast Low’ Estimated at A$794M
Mar 31 2020 // Initial insured property claims estimate for the Australian east coast low event, which hit the Australian east coast states of New South Wales and Queensland between Feb. 5-13, 2020, is estimated at A$794 million...
Allianz Australia Taps Laybutt from Deloitte as Chief Risk Officer, Succeeding Callahan
Mar 30 2020 // Allianz Australia announced the appointment of Tara Laybutt as Allianz Australia’s chief risk officer, effective May 11, 2020. Laybutt has extensive experience in guiding the risk functions of large, financial...
Australia Firms Begin to Use Legal Clause to Terminate M&A Deals Amid Virus
Mar 26 2020 // Several Australian companies are reviewing or even terminating takeover deals by using a legal escape route because of the devastating impact of the coronavirus, a template that some lawyers expect to be replicated in...
Report: Climate Change Requires a ‘Rethink’ of How Catastrophic Events are Funded
Mar 19 2020 // Severe weather events and demographic challenges will continue to strain government finances, a trend that will require “a rethink of how catastrophic events are funded” and push the need for greater use of...
After Australia’s 2019 Floods, Insurers Begin to Bail, Banks Keep Lending
Mar 16 2020 // Only a year after losing their homes to floods in parts of Australia’s north eastern coast of Queensland, people are moving into new houses built on or near the same plots. But while banks have been only too willing...
PERILS to Include Australian Motor in Industry Catastrophe Exposure Update
Mar 16 2020 // PERILS, the independent Zurich-based company that provides industry-wide catastrophe insurance data, announced it will extend its line of business reporting to include Australian motor for personal and commercial...
Australia Faces Worsening Bushfires Without Climate Change Action: Report
Mar 11 2020 // Australia risks worse wildfires than this season’s record-breaking blazes unless it reduces emissions and phases out fossil-fuel exports, climate scientists warned. In a report titled “Summer of Crisis,”...
One U.S. State May Look at Insurers’ Fossil Fuel Investments and Underwriting to Combat Climate Change
Mar 5 2020 // A Connecticut lawmaker has plans for a bill that not only calls for the state to look at which insurers have fossil fuel investments – a growing trend among government entities as of late – but also which ones are...
Climate Change Heightens Risk of Fierce Australia Wildfires: Study
Mar 5 2020 // Climate change is adding to the risk of fierce wildfires in Australia, according to a scientific study of this season’s blazes that razed an area the size of England and killed dozens of people and more than a...
Insured Property Losses for Australia’s January Hailstorms Hit A$670M: PERILS
Mar 4 2020 // The initial insured property losses for January’s hailstorms in Australia are estimated at A$670 million (US$746.7 million), according to PERILS, the independent Zurich-based organization that provides industry-wide...
Australia Regulator Seeks to Understand Financial Risks of Climate Change
Feb 24 2020 // Australia’s prudential regulator said on Monday it was looking to better understand the financial risks of climate change and would begin undertaking deeper assessments of the industry’s vulnerabilities to...
Arch Re to Buy Majority Stake in Australia’s Precision Marketing Asia Pacific
Feb 18 2020 // Arch Reinsurance, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bermuda-based Arch Capital Group Ltd., announced it has entered into an agreement in principle to obtain a majority stake in Precision Marketing Asia Pacific (PMAP), subject...
Cruise Ship Tests Coronavirus Containment as 300 Passengers Return to U.S.
Feb 17 2020 // TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif./GENEVA, Feb 17 —More than 300 American cruise liner passengers, including 14 who tested positive for coronavirus, were flown home to military bases in the United States after two weeks under...
Australia’s Central Bank Chief Warns of Economic, Financial Effects of Climate Change
Feb 14 2020 // Australia’s central bank chief Philip Lowe warned of wide-ranging economic and financial impacts from climate change, after his drought-stricken nation suffered some of its worst wildfires ever. Speaking on a panel...
