Latest Europe Headlines
All the headlines from our Europe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Italy’s Mt. Vesuvius Ranked as Europe’s Most Dangerous Volcano
Apr 15 2010 // A major eruption of Italy’s Mount Vesuvius could result in 8,000 fatalities, 13,000 serious injuries and total economic losses of more than $24 billion, says a new study. According to the Willis Research Network...
Report: Q1 Catastrophe Bond Market Sees Sustained Improvement
Apr 14 2010 // Catastrophe bond issuance conditions saw sustained improvement in the first quarter of 2010, reflecting the increase in prominence of the insurance linked securities (ILS) asset class. Despite the continued improvement in...
Legal Uncertainty, Prisoner Releases Making Piracy Problem Worse
Apr 9 2010 // Piracy off the coast of Somalia is getting worse, partly due to the legal limbo that has led some countries to release captured suspects, Russia’s U.N. envoy said this week. Over the past year and a half, the U.N....
Risk of Aging Europe Falls on Small Group of Pension Providers
Apr 9 2010 // The aging of Europe may open opportunities to sell savings products, but it also spells a real threat to parts of the financial services industry. Pensions experts call it the “toxic tail.” Like the subprime...
Business Moves
Apr 5 2010 // ISU, Webb, Ken Hargis, Cox & Kimball, Darlage ISU International added four new member agencies in the Midwest: ISU Insurance Services The Webb Agency of St. Charles, Mo.; ISU Insurance Services Ken Hargis Agency of...
FERMA Survey Polls Commercial Buyers for Feedback to Insurers
Apr 1 2010 // The Federation of European Risk Management Associations (FERMA) announced that it is presently conducting, “a wide-ranging, risk management benchmarking survey,” aimed at compiling data to let insurers know...
EU Trade Chief Says U.S. Must Make First Move to Restart Doha Round
Mar 23 2010 // The European Union cannot make more concessions on farm trade to restart stalled world trade talks and the United States must make the first move, the EU’s new trade chief said on Monday. The ball was not in the...
Growing Skepticism Ignores Climate Change Facts; Max Merges with Harbor Point; Terrorist Pirates Threaten the Malacca Strait
Mar 22 2010 // The Climate Change debate rolls on, but real decisions and effective actions remain elusive. Hardly a week goes by without a new report or study on the changes affecting the atmosphere, but the general public appears to be...
UK Risk Managers Warn of Harm to Business in New Solvency II Proposals
Mar 22 2010 // The Solvency II reforms, as currently proposed, “would reduce the amount of insurance capacity available to UK businesses and put up the cost of cover,” according to the UK’s AIRMIC (the Association of...
Marsh: Environmental Liability Concerns Top Risk Management Agenda
Mar 19 2010 // “The heightened environmental liabilities created by recent European Union (EU) and UK environmental legislation were among the top risk management concerns raised by delegates at this week’s Base conference in...
Bermuda (Re)Insurance Association Releases Members’ 2009 Results
Mar 17 2010 // The Association of Bermuda Insurers and Reinsurers (ABIR) has released the 2009 global underwriting results for its 23 members, who write insurance and reinsurance from underwriting centers in Bermuda, Europe and the...
Allied World Announces Executive Promotions
Mar 17 2010 // Bermuda-based Allied World Assurance Company Holdings has announced a number of senior-level promotions effective March 1, 2010. In Bermuda, Tracey Gibbons was promoted from Vice President, Casualty Treaty Reinsurance to...
Big EU Insurers Pass Stress Tests
Mar 17 2010 // Europe’s insurers are able to withstand even a major financial crisis, an EU watchdog said on Tuesday, boosting industry hopes for less onerous regulation. EU insurance watchdog CEIOPS, (the Committee of European...
Swiss Re ‘sigma’ Study: Insured 2009 Disaster Losses Cost $26 Billion
Mar 16 2010 // Swiss Re’s annual sigma study has calculated that “natural catastrophes cost insurers $22 billion in 2009, while man-made disasters cost an additional $4 billion. Insured losses were highest in North America,...
FERMA Concerned about ‘Excessive’ Solvency II Capital Proposals
Mar 15 2010 // A bulletin from the Federation of European Risk Management Associations (FERMA) notes that while it “supports the goal of the Solvency II European insurance regulatory regime, which is to enhance policyholder...
Swiss Re Estimates Chile Quake Loss at $500 Million; Xynthia $100 Million
Mar 10 2010 // Swiss Re released its preliminary estimates for losses from the magnitude 8.8 earthquake that hit Chile on February 27 – $500 million – and from European windstorm Xynthia – $100 million. Both estimates...
Ratings Recap: Swiss Re (Cat Bond), Transmonde, Sagicor, Bahamas First
Mar 10 2010 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has assigned its preliminary ‘B-‘ credit rating to the class II-CN3 notes series 2010-1 issued under the principal at-risk variable-rate note program, Successor X...
PartnerRe Gives Loss Estimates for Chile Quake, Windstorm Xynthia
Mar 9 2010 // Bermuda-based PartnerRe Ltd has issued preliminary estimates of expected claims from the earthquake in Chile and European Windstorm Xynthia. Total insured industry losses from the M8.8 earthquake in Chile, which hit on...
European Union to Issue Climate Warning; Tackle CO2 Loopholes
Mar 9 2010 // Loopholes in the United Nations climate treaties could actually amount to an increase in global climate-warming emissions and the chance to rein in temperatures may be slipping away, a draft European Union report...
S&P Analyzes EU’s Proposed Solvency II Regulations on ‘Hybrid Capital’
Mar 5 2010 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has published updated assumptions for assessing European insurance hybrid capital instruments (see “Assumptions: Implications Of Solvency II Proposals For Our European...
