Latest Europe Headlines

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

Catlin Names Haas Chief European Underwriter

Jul 8 2009 // Catlin Group Limited announced that Heinz-Walter Haas has joined Catlin as chief underwriting officer for Continental Europe. He is based in the Cologne office, and is responsible for the execution of the Group s...

Heavy Rains Trigger Flooding in Central Europe

Jul 1 2009 // According to a report from Risk Management Solutions, last week’s extremely heavy rainfall, which continued for three days over Central Europe, triggered severe flooding across parts of the Czech Republic, Germany,...

Marsh: Europe’s Communications, Media, Tech Firms Focus on Risks

Jun 25 2009 // A new report from Marsh concludes that the senior management at “85 percent of Europe’s leading communications, media and technology (CMT) companies have indicated they are placing increased importance on risk...

Ratings: Everest Re (Ireland), Bosna Re, Peace Hills, Farmers (NZ), Swiss Re (debt), Optimum

Jun 18 2009 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has assigned its ‘A+’ counterparty credit and financial strength ratings to Everest Reinsurance Co. (Ireland) Ltd. S&P also said the outlook on Everest Re...

ACE Opens Branch Office in Turkey

Jun 16 2009 // the ACE European Group announced the opening of a new branch office in Istanbul, Turkey, as it expands its presence across Central and Eastern Europe. ACE said it has “obtained a letter from Turkey’s Under...

The Globalized Broker Network

Jun 15 2009 // Assurex Global Struck Gold with Partners Around the World Assurex Global Year Founded: 1954 Locations: 500 offices on six continents Employees: 20,000 Annual Premium Volume: $28 billion Annual Revenue: $3.4 billion Assurex...

Marsh Survey Finds Financial European Risk Management Budgets Stagnant

Jun 11 2009 // A survey, conducted by Marsh and the independent research group Ipsos, has concluded that almost all European financial institutions have reviewed their approach to risk since the onset of the global financial crisis,...

EU Ministers Vow Debt Curb; Broach Bank Supervision

Jun 9 2009 // European Union Finance ministers were set on Tuesday to renew commitments to post-recession debt reduction but without tying themselves for now to a starting date. The ministers from the 27 European Union countries were...

Guy Carp Report Details EU Developments Affecting Insurance

Jun 9 2009 // Guy Carpenter & Company has published the latest installment in its series of updates on key legislative and legal developments impacting insurers and reinsurers in Continental Europe. The briefing addresses the...

ACE Europe Finds Lack of Risk Manager Authority in Financial Crisis

Jun 8 2009 // “Financial institutions did not empower their risk management functions enough to curb the activities of risk takers which played a major role in the near collapse of the international financial system in...

Amlin to Buy Fortis Dutch Corporate Insurance Unit; S&P, Best Comment

Jun 4 2009 // The UK’s Amlin plc announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Fortis Corporate Insurance N.V. (FCI), an important provider of corporate P/C insurance in the Netherlands and Belgium, from the Dutch...

Association of British Insurers Warns of Regulation ‘Contagion’

Jun 4 2009 // The Association of British Insurers has issued a statement warning that regulators and governments “must not harm other industries, such as insurance, as they deal with the banking crisis.” In a new report,...

EU Unveils Reforms to Make Financial Markets Safer – Insurance Included

May 27 2009 // Banks will be more closely scrutinized under European Union plans unveiled on Wednesday to apply lessons from the credit crunch and better protect investors shaken by the worst financial crisis in decades. The European...

France, Germany Urge More Flexible Climate Pact

May 26 2009 // France and Germany suggested on Monday that rich nations should collectively guarantee deep cuts in greenhouse gases by 2020 while giving flexibility to laggards such as the United States to catch up later. France said the...

Russia Must Enter WTO before Joint EU Deal Says Envoy

May 22 2009 // The European Union’s trade commissioner ruled out on Friday finalizing a strategic pact with Russia before it joins the World Trade Organization and warned Moscow against introducing new protectionist...

European Union, China Rebuild Ties; Seek ‘New Global Order’

May 20 2009 // The European Union and China hope to relaunch their political and economic relations at a summit on Wednesday and create a “new global order” to combat the financial crisis, dwindling world trade and climate...

Ratings Recap: Allianz, Swiss Re (Notes), Everest Re (Ireland), Civic

May 18 2009 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services issued a statement that its ratings and outlook on Germany’s Allianz SE (AZSE), currently ‘AA’/Stable/’A-1+’, and various core operating entities...

Best Analyzes Economic Issues Facing Europe’s Insurance Industry

May 18 2009 // In a recently published special report from BestWeek, A.M. Best analyzes the relative economic strength Europe’s 10 largest insurance groupsand the top five European reinsurers. “Ever since American...

Fight for IPC Re Intensifies; Pirates Continue Attacks; Solvency II Gets EU OK

May 18 2009 // A good old-fashioned fight has developed between Bermuda-based Validus Holdings and the Max Capital Group over the latter’s planned amalgamation with IPC Re. At the end of March, Max announced that it had made a deal...

Capital, Capital, or Where Did All the Money Go?

May 18 2009 // At least the global depression has focused people’s minds on some important issues. The Group of 20 (G20) meeting in London acknowledged the need for more capital to shore-up the world’s financial system...