Latest Europe Headlines

All the headlines from our Europe Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Cell Phone Use Deemed Safe on Europe Airlines

Sep 26 2014 // European airlines received permission from regulators to have passengers use personal electronic devices including mobile phones during flight, removing one of the last remaining bastions of talk-free zones. The European...

Swiss Re’s Chief Economist Analyzes a Difficult Reinsurance Market

Sep 22 2014 // Over the past 13 years Swiss Re’s Chief Economist, Kurt Karl has been through a succession of reinsurance market ups and downs, but the current situation is somewhat new, and, as he told the IJ at the Reinsurance...

Catlin’s COO Explains Group’s Focus on Relevance with Clients to Drive Growth

Sep 17 2014 // The Catlin Group’s roots go deep into the Lloyd’s market where it was formed 30 years ago. But Catlin has since become one of the most innovative companies in the global insurance hierarchy with offices in more...

Aon Benfield’s Impact Forecasting Adds PERILS’ Exposure Data to Europe Model

Sep 11 2014 // The PERILS Windstorm Exposure data for Europe is now available in the Impact Forecasting ELEMENTS format. In a telephone interview Adam Podlaha, head of Aon Benfield lmpact Forecasting, said that Aon Benfield has licensed...

Baloise Shopping for Insurers at Home and Abroad in Europe

Sep 11 2014 // Martin Strobel, CEO of Baloise Holding AG, said the insurance company may consider buying firms in Switzerland, Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg. “If more opportunities arise in our core markets we will examine...

Chubb Insurance Appoints Rehman CEO of Chubb Europe

Sep 9 2014 // The Chubb Group of Insurance Companies announced the appointment of Jalil Rehman as Chief Executive Officer of Chubb Insurance Company of Europe. He has been with Chubb for 24 years and has served in various leadership...

Guy Carpenter Launches Probabilistic European Hail Model

Sep 5 2014 // Guy Carpenter & Company, LLC, the global risk and reinsurance specialist and wholly owned subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies, announced the launch of its new probabilistic hail model for Europe. The bulletin...

Edinburgh Defying Finance Doomsayers over Scottish Independence

Sep 5 2014 // For the banks, insurers and fund managers that thrived and survived in Edinburgh through war and recession for two centuries, a whole new challenge is looming. Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc and Standard Life Plc might...

ING Gains on Plan to Cut Voya Stake with $1.2 Billion Share Sale

Sep 3 2014 // ING Groep NV, the biggest Dutch bank, gained in Amsterdam trading after it said it will reduce its stake in a former U.S. insurance unit, Voya Financial Inc., to about 32 percent by selling about $1.2 billion of...

EU Insurers Say New Rules Hurt $11.2 Trillion Investment Role

Sep 2 2014 // Insurers in Europe, which manage about €8.5 trillion ($11.2 trillion) of client money, say their role as long-term investors may be hurt by new regulation. Planned new risk-based rules for insurers in the European Union,...

Iceland Puts Airlines on High Alert after Volcanic Eruption

Aug 29 2014 // Iceland put airlines on the highest level of alert after authorities detected an eruption north of the Bardarbunga volcano. The Icelandic Met Office raised the alert over the site to red and flights have been banned below...

Report: Russian Hackers Attack 5 Big Banks, Steal Customer Data

Aug 28 2014 // Russian hackers attacked JPMorgan Chase & Co. and at least four other banks this month in a coordinated assault that resulted in the loss of gigabytes of customer data, according to two people familiar with the...

AXA to Buy $450 Million Stake in U.K. Mall from Land Securities

Aug 13 2014 // AXA SA’s property unit agreed to buy a 50 percent stake in a shopping mall and other assets in the English city of Bristol from Land Securities Group Plc for £267.8 million ($450 million). The purchase of Cabot...

EC Consults on Functioning, Future of Insurance Anti-Trust Block Exemption

Aug 13 2014 // The European Commission (EC) has issued a questionnaire to seek the views of stakeholders on the functioning and the future of the Insurance Block Exemption Regulation (IBER), which exempts certain agreements between...

CNA Appoints Motamed Chairman of CNA Europe Board of Directors

Aug 12 2014 // Thomas F. Motamed, chairman and chief executive of CNA Financial Corporation, has been appointed chairman of the CNA Insurance Company Limited (CNA Europe) Board of Directors, effective as of August 18, following approval...

European Insurance Industry Figures Find ‘Stability & Growth’ from 2003-2012

Aug 8 2014 // Despite the economic upheavals the European insurance industry has maintained a path of stability and growth, even through times of crisis, according to figures released by Insurance Europe, the European insurance and...

Energy Market Dynamics of Shifting Shale

Aug 4 2014 // The expansion of shale resource extraction encompasses several interrelated elements, including exploration risk, infrastructure project risk, and the risks associated with new or enlarged trade flows and the significant...

Allied World Europe Expands Professional Liability Team

Aug 1 2014 // Allied World Assurance Company Holdings, AG announced that Allied World Europe has expanded its professional liability team with the addition of two new vice presidents, Alec Goodair as Vice President, European Financial...

Allianz Poised to Reappoint Diekmann as CEO, but Considering Successors

Aug 1 2014 // Allianz is poised to reappoint Michael Diekmann as chief executive in October, investors believe, possibly delaying tough choices on whether Europe’s largest insurer expands its global presence or returns more cash...

Insured Global Disaster Losses in First Half Reached $22B: Aon Benfield

Jul 23 2014 // Insured losses from global natural disasters during the six-month period ending June 30, 2014 reached $22 billion. That compares to $27 billion in the first half of 2013 and is approximately 19 percent below the 10-year...