Latest Australia Headlines
All the headlines from our Australia Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Lloyd’s Insurer Brit to Stop Insuring Australia’s Adani Coal Mine
Feb 23 2021 // Major Lloyd’s of London insurer Brit will not insure Adani Enterprises’ Carmichael thermal coal mine, it said on Tuesday, adding to a growing list of Lloyd’s insurers who have made similar...
Australia Regulator Raises Antitrust Concerns over $30B Aon-Willis Towers Watson Deal
Feb 18 2021 // Australia’s competition regulator on Thursday raised initial concerns over Aon’s $30 billion bid for Willis Towers Watson to create the world’s largest insurance broker, close on the heels of a similar...
Australian Insurers Declare Catastrophe for Perth Hills Bushfires
Feb 5 2021 // The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has declared a catastrophe for the Perth Hills bushfires which continue to burn north-east of Perth. Insurers have received more than 270 claims and estimated loss value is over...
Australian Securities Regulator Suffers Cyber Security Breach
Jan 25 2021 // Australia’s securities regulator said on Monday there was a cyber security breach at a server it used to transfer files including credit license applications where some information may have been viewed. The...
Final Insured Losses for Australian Bushfires of 2019/2020 Estimated at A$1.866B
Jan 6 2021 // Insured losses for the Australian bushfires of 2019/2020 rose to A$1.866 billion (US$1.441 billion), according to estimates issued by PERILS, the independent Zurich-based organization that provides industry-wide...
Allianz to Buy General Insurance Business of Australia’s Westpac for $534M
Dec 2 2020 // Allianz announced it has agreed to purchase the general insurance business of Westpac Banking Corp., the Australian banking group for a deal worth A$725 million (US$534 million). It will also enter into a new 20-year...
BMS Names Madell as Director in New Financial Lines Division
Nov 23 2020 // BMS Group, the independent specialist re/insurance broker, announced the appointment of Chris Madell as director in BMS’ new Financial Lines division, effective immediately. Madell will be based in London, reporting...
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Buys Australia’s Effectus Consulting Pty Ltd.
Nov 5 2020 // Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. announced the acquisition of Brisbane, Queensland-based Effectus Consulting Pty Ltd. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Effectus Consulting is a data-driven employee and leadership...
BMS Appoints Massis as Chairman of Australian Affinity Business
Nov 4 2020 // BMS Group, the London-based independent specialist re/insurance broker, announced the appointment of Cris Massis as chairman of BMS’s Australian affinity business, effective Nov. 1 and based in Melbourne. Massis adds...
Australian Pension Fund Agrees to Settle Landmark Climate Risk Litigation
Nov 2 2020 // SYDNEY — One of Australia’s largest pension funds on Monday agreed to settle a landmark climate risk litigation filed by a 25-year-old member who alleged it was failing to protect his retirement savings against...
Australia’s Westpac Takes A$1.2B Charge Against Q2 Earnings for Laundering, Refunds
Oct 26 2020 // Westpac Banking Corp. has taken a A$1.2 billion ($871 million) charge against second-half earnings to cover a record money-laundering fine and the mounting cost of compensating customers for years of misconduct. The charge...
Lloyd’s Approves Syndicate-in-a-Box, Picnic Syndicate 2460, to Support Mutuals
Oct 22 2020 // Asta, the third-party managing agent at Lloyd’s, announced the Council of Lloyd’s granted in-principle approval for the launch of Picnic Syndicate PIC 2460, a syndicate-in-a-box (SIAB). Picnic will commence...
Insurance Losses for April’s Queensland Hailstorms Estimated at A$604M: PERILS
Oct 19 2020 // The insurance industry’s loss footprint for the April 2020 Central Queensland hailstorms is estimated at A$604 million (US$423.2 million), according to PERILS, the independent Zurich-based organization that provides...
Western Wildfires Taint Vineyards With Taste Of Smoke
Sep 25 2020 // Smoke from the West Coast wildfires has tainted grapes in some of the nation’s most celebrated wine regions with an ashy flavor that could spell disaster for the 2020 vintage. Wineries in California, Oregon and...
Catastrophe Losses Driven Higher by Secondary Perils – And Climate Change
Sep 23 2020 // Secondary perils, exacerbated by climate change, are driving catastrophe insurance losses, warn a growing chorus of reinsurers and brokers. Indeed, broker Aon reveals that more than 60% of 2020’s insured catastrophe...
Coronavirus Safety: U.S. Behind Global Rivals in Protecting Meat Plant Workers
Sep 22 2020 // The U.S. government is falling behind global rivals when it comes to protecting meatpacking workers from Covid-19 infections, even though the nation’s plants were among the first to confront rampant cases across...
Frequent Wildfires Decimating Forests Becomes Concern Worldwide
Sep 22 2020 // Wildfires among ponderosa pines and Douglas firs of the U.S. West have long been part of nature’s cycle of renewal, as much as the changing of the seasons. But as climate change makes the region more arid, wildfires...
Hamilton Re Appoints Former AXIS Capital Executive as New CEO
Sep 10 2020 // Hamilton Re has named Megan Thomas, a former AXIS Capital and AIG executive, as the company’s new chief executive officer. She succeeds David Brown, the chairman of Hamilton Re who was appointed interim CEO in early...
Search for Crew from Capsized Cattle Ship Continues; Records Reveal Ship Defects
Sep 4 2020 // A crewman from a cattle ship that capsized enroute from New Zealand to China has died after being pulled unconscious from water by the Japanese coastguard on Friday, while it emerged the vessel had a history of mechanical...
More Than 40 Crew Members Missing After Ship with 6,000 Cattle Capsizes Off Japan
Sep 3 2020 // More than 40 crew members were missing after a ship carrying cattle from New Zealand to China capsized in stormy weather in the East China Sea, the Japanese coastguard said on Thursday. A lone crew member from the Gulf...
