Latest Europe Headlines
All the headlines from our Europe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Best Affirms Ratings of Mapfre Mutualidad and Affiliates
Jun 30 2005 // A.M. Best Co. announced that it has affirmed the financial strength rating of “A+” (Superior) of the Spanish insurance group Mapfre Mutualidad de Seguros y Reaseguros, the ultimate parent of the Mapfre Group...
FERMA Active in EC Drive to Expand Risk Management Techniques
Jun 30 2005 // The Federation of European Risk Management Associations (FERMA) has been taking an increasingly active role in supporting the efforts of the European Commission to expand the use of risk management techniques in the...
GE to Open Business Service and Tech Center in Romania
Jun 27 2005 // Romanian Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu announced that GE will locate its next Business Services & Technology Solutions Center in Bucharest, the second such center in Europe. The new center will handle...
Pan-American Life Names Salazar Executive VP
Jun 27 2005 // New Orleans-based Pan-American Life Insurance Company announced the appointment of Camilo J. Salazar as executive vice president for Distribution, Marketing and Product Management. Salazar’s appointment is effective...
S&P Reports on European Insurers
Jun 24 2005 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has published its quarterly report covering the leading European insurers – Industry Report Card: European Insurance. The study concludes: “The current picture for...
EU Leaders Fiddle while Europe Burns
Jun 17 2005 // One would have thought that the crisis in the European Union, provoked when French and Dutch voters rejected the proposed EU Constitution, might have caused a bit of soul-searching and reassessment on the part of...
FERMA Names New Leaders
Jun 17 2005 // Marie-Gemma Dequae, president of the Belgian risk management association BELRIM from June 1994 until June 2005, has been named as the next president of the Federation of European Risk Management Associations (FERMA). She...
St.Paul/Travelers Signs up for Lloyd’s Kinnect Platform
Jun 8 2005 // St Paul/Travelers (SPT) has become the latest Lloyd’s market insurer to pledge its support for the Kinnect electronic platform that has been in development for the last three years. The SPT division, which operates...
European Parliament Backs Reinsurance Regulation Directive
Jun 8 2005 // The European Parliament has voted its approval of new laws and regulations, which now need to be approved by EU member governments, for the regulation of the reinsurance industry within the 25-member block. The proposed...
Voters’ Revenge Part II – Dutch Also Reject EU Constitution
Jun 2 2005 // Voters in the Netherlands have overwhelmingly rejected the proposed EU Constitution. Nearly 62 percent of them (participation was around 62.8 percent of eligible voters) expressed their disapproval of the lengthy...
EU Trade Commissioner Urges More Action by WTO on Doha Round
Jun 1 2005 // Peter Mandelson, the European Union’s Trade Commissioner, has expressed his concern about the slow progress being made towards the liberalization of trade barriers. The “Doha Round” (named after the...
The Revenge of the Voters – France Rejects EU Constitution
May 30 2005 // Seventy percent of the eligible voters in France expressed their opinion on Sunday, May 29 – a turnout not seen in any recent election. Fifty-five percent of them voted a resounding ‘NO’ to the proposed...
S&P Raises Ratings on 7 Insurance Holding Companies
May 30 2005 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services announced that it has raised its long-term counterparty credit and debt ratings on seven unregulated insurance and reinsurance holding companies. S&P also raised its...
Zurich Ireland Authorized for European Corporate; S&P Assigns ‘A+’ Rating
May 24 2005 // Zurich Financial Services Group (ZFS) announced today that Zurich Insurance Ireland Limited (ZIIL), formerly Eagle Star Insurance Company (Ireland) Ltd., will become an EU-wide risk carrier for Global Corporate business...
Zurich Q1 Net up 21% to $779 Million
May 19 2005 // Zurich Financial Services Group reported strong growth in net income in the first quarter of 2005 with net income up 21 percent to $779 million, compared to $644 million in the first quarter of 2004. Other highlights...
ABI Calls EU Single Market Directive a ‘Breath of Fresh Air’
May 9 2005 // The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has issued a bulletin endorsing the European Commission’s new approach to the single market for financial services. Speaking on the day that the Commission published its...
XL Posts $442.9 Million Q1 Net
Apr 27 2005 // Bermuda’s other major insurer, XL Capital Ltd., joined ACE (See previous article) in reporting slightly lower profits for the first quarter of 2005, as it posted net income of $442.9 million or $3.18 per share,...
Allianz Global Risks to ‘Raise Profile’ on Liability Coverage
Apr 26 2005 // Allianz Global Risks, the industrial business unit of Germany’s Allianz, announced its intention to raise the division’s “activity and profile in Liability insurance.” In an on-line interview on the...
European Nations Offer Lessons in Insuring Catastrophes and Terrorism
Apr 18 2005 // GAO Study Explores Examples of How Public-Private Insurance Partnerships Operate A new U.S. government report indicates that the private U.S. insurance industry would be placed under enormous strain without government...
Radian Names MacDonald VP of International Public Finance Group
Apr 14 2005 // Radian Asset Assurance Inc., a leading provider of municipal bond insurance and financial guaranty services, announced that Iain MacDonald has agreed to join the company as VP-International Public Finance in its growing...
