Latest Europe Headlines
All the headlines from our Europe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Ratings: Syndicate 2003 (Catlin), La Colonial, United, Arch, Ballantyne Re
Sep 2 2009 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the Best’s Syndicate Rating of ‘A’ (Excellent) and issuer credit rating of “a+” of Lloyd’s Syndicate 2003, which is managed by Catlin Underwriting Agency...
Marsh Finds Europe’s Retailers Fear Working Capital, Supply Chain Risks
Aug 28 2009 // New research by Marsh has found that senior executives at Europe’s leading retail and consumer brands businesses will be concerned by risks such as cash flow, credit risk and trade credit over the next 18 months. An...
Marsh Finds Excess Capacity, Competition Inhibit Premium Increases
Aug 26 2009 // According to figures released by Marsh “insurance premium rate reductions slowed for property and casualty business across Europe, the Middle East and Africa in the first half of 2009.” Marsh also concluded...
Pirelli’s Risk Manager Named as New FERMA Board Member
Aug 24 2009 // Jorge Luzzi, Worldwide Director of the Risk Management Department for the Italian based industrial group Pirelli, has been appointed as a member of the board of the Federation of European Risk Management Associations...
FERMA Supports RIMS Position on Brokers Contingent Commissions
Aug 17 2009 // The Federation of European Risk Management Associations (FERMA) has issued a bulletin expressing concerns over a new ruling in the US state of Illinois that allows brokers to resume taking contingent commissions. The...
Hennessy Named CEO for CNA Europe
Aug 14 2009 // CNA Financial Corp. has named John Hennessy to the position of chief executive officer of CNA’s European operations. The announcement comes soon after the insurer announced a strategy to grow its international...
Zurich Makes Two Executive Appointments
Aug 13 2009 // Zurich Financial Services Group (Zurich) has appointed Alan Fairhead (50, British citizen), currently chief underwriting officer for Global Corporate, to the position of chief underwriting officer for Europe General...
Allianz P/C Profit Down, Combined Ratio Up for Q2
Aug 7 2009 // Allianz disappointed investors on Friday as its property/ casualty insurance business missed expectations even as improving financial markets helped group net profit rise by a fifth in the second quarter. Net profit at...
Validus Opens European Office
Jul 22 2009 // Bermuda-based Validus Holdings, Ltd. has opened a European reinsurance representative office located in Hamburg, Germany. The new office will represent Validus Reinsurance, Ltd. (Validus Re), the Group’s...
S&P Affirms/Withdraws Some Swiss Re Operating Company Ratings
Jul 15 2009 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has affirmed its ‘A+’ long-term counterparty credit and insurer financial strength ratings on various operating companies belonging to global reinsurer Swiss...
Best Affirms Omega Specialty, Lloyd’s Syndicate 958 Ratings
Jul 15 2009 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating of ‘A-‘ (Excellent) and issuer credit rating of “a-” of Bermuda-based Omega Specialty Insurance Company Limited (OSIL), both with stable...
France Sees Global ‘Airline Blacklist’ Ready Soon
Jul 13 2009 // A global blacklist for unsafe airlines will be set up soon, France’s Transport Minister Dominique Bussereau said on Monday. On Thursday the head of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) had rejected...
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...
