Latest Europe Headlines

News Briefs

Sep 19 2005 // European Insurers Estimate Katrina Losses: A disaster the scope of Hurricane Katrina hits everybody, not just U.S. carriers. The following are some of the preliminary estimates of anticipated losses from a number of...

Zurich Appoints Lopez to Head Spain

Sep 15 2005 // The Zurich Financial Services Group has announced the appointment of Julian Lopez, 50, as CEO of its business in Spain effective April 1, 2006. He will take over from José Cela, 61, Zurich’s Spanish CEO since...

Allianz Offers $7 Billion for Remaining RAS Shares; Plans Restructuring

Sep 13 2005 // Germany’s Allianz AG announced an offer to shareholders of Riunione Adriatica di Sicurtà (RAS) S.p.A for the approximately 45 percent of the shares it doesn’t already own. At 19 euros ($23.35) per share that...

S&P Issues Report on European Insurers U.S. Operations

Sep 8 2005 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has issued a new report on how European insurers are doing in the U.S. market. The article entitled “Some European Insurers Maintain U.S. Property/Casualty Operations...

Zurich Estimates $100 Million in European Flood Losses; No Estimate Yet on Katrina

Sep 8 2005 // The Zurich Financial Services Group has issued a statement that, based on preliminary estimates, “it expects aggregate claims payments related to the recent floods affecting Switzerland, southern Germany and Austria...

Assured Guaranty Appoints Bajer Managing Director for Europe

Sep 7 2005 // Assured Guaranty Corp., a subsidiary of Assured Guaranty Ltd. announced that Assured Guaranty (UK) Ltd., its European unit, has appointed Marc Bajer as managing director and head of its European business. He will be...

Ace Europe Expands IT Loss Protection

Sep 6 2005 // The ACE European Group announced the launch of “Computerguard,” which it described as “the latest in its suite of loss protection products to cover financial losses relating to IT hardware and system...

Sep 5 2005 // Extreme Weather Hits Europe: Devastating wild fires in Portugal; torrential rains in Switzerland, Austria, Germany and Romania; drought in much of France. There seems to be no end to the list of extreme weather conditions...

International Newsbriefs

Sep 5 2005 // Extreme Weather Hits Europe: Devastating wild fires in Portugal; torrential rains in Switzerland, Austria, Germany and Romania; drought in much of France. There seems to be no end to the list of extreme weather conditions...

Converium Issues Statement on Katrina, Central Europe Flooding

Sep 2 2005 // Swiss reinsurer Converium has issued the following statement concerning expected losses from Hurricane Katrina and from the floods that ravaged Switzerland, Austria and other European countries in August. “Based on...

AWAC Promotes D’Orazio to Senior VP, Global Mgr. – General Casualty Division

Aug 29 2005 // Bermuda-based Allied World Assurance Company, Ltd. (AWAC) announced that Frank N. D’Orazio has been named senior vice president and global manager of its General Casualty division. He is charged with setting and...

Extreme Weather Hits Europe

Aug 23 2005 // Devastating fires in Portugal; torrential rains in Switzerland, Austria and Romania; drought in much of France – the list of extreme weather conditions continues to grow in Europe. No contrast is more vivid than...

Best Affirms W.R. Berkley (Europe) ‘A’, ‘aa’ Ratings

Aug 12 2005 // A.M. Best Co. announced that it has affirmed the financial strength rating of “A” (Excellent) and the issuer credit rating (ICR) of “a” for U.K.-based W.R. Berkley Insurance (Europe), Limited, with...

International Newsbriefs

Jul 18 2005 // XL Hit with $183M Reserve Increase: Bermuda’s XL Capital Ltd. announced that its second quarter results will be adversely impacted by an increase in net reserves in its North American reinsurance operations of $191...

Insurance Community Concerns Mount Over Climate Change Debate

Jul 18 2005 // To paraphrase an old adage: “Nothing concentrates the overall mind of the property/casualty insurance community as much as the approaching certainty of large loss events.” So, it’s no wonder that many...

People & Places

Jul 18 2005 // Luke Nolan Luke J. Nolan Jr., director of Aon Construction Services Group, was elected president of the Dallas/Fort Worth chapter of the Construction Financial Management Association (CFMA). His election marks the first...

Best Affirms FSR for Max Re, Max Re Capital; Rates European Operations

Jul 13 2005 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of A- (Excellent) and the issuer credit rating (ICR) of “a-” for Max Re Ltd. (Max Re). A.M. Best has also affirmed the ICR of “bbb-” of...

ACE Europe Appoints Furgueson President U.K. and Ireland

Jul 8 2005 // ACE European Group has announced that Michael Furgueson has been appointed President of ACE’s business operations in the United Kingdom and Ireland. He succeeds Carl Bach, who is moving to a new posting with ACE USA,...

ACE Appoints Bonneau Global Re Exec; Furby as Europe Head

Jul 7 2005 // Bermuda-based ACE Limited has announced that Jacques Bonneau, CEO of ACE Tempest Re USA, has been appointed president & CEO of the ACE Tempest Re Group. He will be based in Bermuda and report to Ace President and CEO...

International Newsbriefs

Jul 4 2005 // EU Leaders Fiddle While Europe Burns: The crisis in the European Union, provoked when French and Dutch voters rejected the EU Constitution, is being largely ignored by Europe’s leaders. Instead of a bit of...