Latest Europe Headlines
All the headlines from our Europe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Deeper Euro Zone Integration to Take Time Says EU Commissioner Rehn
Jun 12 2012 // Tightening fiscal integration in the euro zone and surrendering more sovereignty in the name of deeper cooperation between member states may be possible only in the medium term, the EU’s top economic official said on...
Analysis: EU’s Spain Bank Rescue May Bring only Brief Respite
Jun 11 2012 // Euro zone finance ministers rushed Spain into an EU-funded rescue for its debt-stricken banks to pre-empt the threat of a bank run if Greece’s debt crisis flares again but any respite for Madrid and the euro may be...
EU Insurers Still Coming to Terms with Solvency II as Start Date Nears
Jun 8 2012 // “Over the next 18 months it’s estimated that Ireland will spend 100 million euros (app. $125 million) on preparations for Solvency II (SII),” said Garvan O’Neill, a partner in...
U.S. to Issue More Waivers on Iran Sanctions Next Week
Jun 8 2012 // The United States will announce a new list of countries that will receive exceptions to financial sanctions on oil trade with Iran as soon as early next week, a government official said on Thursday. Not all of Iran’s...
Best Maintains AVIVA and Subs Ratings Under Review; Negative Implications
Jun 7 2012 // A.M. Best Europe – Rating Services Limited has reviewed and maintained the under review status of the financial strength ratings of ‘A’ (Excellent) and issuer credit ratings (ICR) of “a+” of the...
Best Announces Further Rating Actions on Euro Zone Insurers
Jun 7 2012 // A bulletin from A.M. Best notes that the rating agency has “been actively monitoring the financial crisis and its effects on European countries, stress-testing the balance sheets of (re)insurers against their...
Traynor Joins Greenlight Re Ireland to Build UK, Europe Expansion
Jun 7 2012 // Greenlight Reinsurance Ireland, Ltd., a subsidiary of Cayman Islands-based Greenlight Capital Re, Ltd., a specialist property and casualty reinsurer, announced that Caryl J. Traynor officially joined the company on June 1,...
Ratings Recap: Dubai Insurance, Legal & General, London General
Jun 6 2012 // A.M. Best Europe – Rating Services Limited has affirmed the financial strength rating of ‘B++’ (Good) and issuer credit rating of “bbb” of the United Arab Emirates’ Dubai Insurance Company...
Will There Ever Be a United States of Europe?
Jun 6 2012 // From recent news you will have learned that the euro zone crisis continues to be the 700 pound gorilla in the room of the global economy. It’s become increasingly clear that, whatever happens in Greece on June 17,...
Economic Storm Clouds Continue to Gather over Europe
Jun 6 2012 // In many ways Ireland is a “microcosm for Europe,” said Danny McCoy, the Director General of the Irish Business & Employer’s Confederation (IBEC) at the EIF Forum. He described the present situation as...
Irish ‘Yes’ Vote Assures Continued Support; Euro Zone Crisis Still Weighs
Jun 5 2012 // Ireland held a referendum on Thursday, May 31 – a straight yes or no vote on whether the country would write the “Stability Treaty,” the austerity measures agreed to last fall by the 17 euro zone countries,...
Global Downturn Puts Investors, Companies in Retreat
Jun 5 2012 // Gripped by fears that Europe’s debt crisis is driving the world economy into a ditch, companies are delaying plans to raise capital and canceling deals, while investors are taking refuge in cash or any other place...
Europe, U.S. Agree on Streamlining Air Cargo Safety
Jun 1 2012 // The European Commission and the U.S. Transport Security Administration have agreed to recognize each other’s air cargo security regimes, a move that will cut costs for carriers, an EU executive said on...
Top Trade Credit Insurer Pulls Cover for Exports to Greece
May 31 2012 // The world’s biggest trade credit insurer, Euler Hermes, has suspended cover for exporters shipping to Greece because of the mounting risk of them not being paid in the event the debt-laden nation is forced out of the...
EU Proposes Cross-Border Bank Rescues
May 30 2012 // European Union countries could be obliged to bail out one another’s struggling banks, according to a draft EU law that marks a big step towards greater EU financial integration likely to upset some members,...
How Relevant Is Insurance? Asks XL CEO McGavick
May 29 2012 // XL Group CEO Mike McGavick asked a provocative question in a keynote speech at the European Insurance Forum in Dublin last week. How relevant is the insurance industry in today’s globalized world? “The...
Why ‘Project Bonds’ Are a Good Idea: Wynn
May 25 2012 // European Union backing for extra infrastructure finance may sound like a deliberate distraction from deadlock over much bigger euro bonds, but in fact it is a great idea – the trouble is the tiny sums involved and...
AIA Calls for More International Market Access for U.S. Insurers
May 23 2012 // The American Insurance Association has issued a statement, which points out several instances of a “disconnect between the continued significant global insurance capacity and a strong demand for insurance products...
Senate Passes Tougher Iran Sanctions
May 22 2012 // The U.S. Senate unanimously approved on Monday a package of new economic sanctions on Iran’s oil sector just days ahead of a meeting in Baghdad between major world powers and Tehran. The sanctions add to a raft of...
EU Trade Credit Insurers Considering Restrictions on Greek Coverage
May 22 2012 // Euler Hermes, the world’s No. 1 trade credit insurer, said it might restrict the cover it provides to exporters doing business with Greece, citing fears the debt-laden nation could be forced out of the...
