Latest London Headlines
All the headlines from our London Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Lloyd’s Comments on Reports of Rampant Sexual Harassment in the Marketplace
Mar 22 2019 // In the era of #MeToo when the ills of sexual harassment are regularly in the news, a recent article published by Bloomberg Businessweek indicates that some men working in the London insurance market still haven’t...
Companies Still Learning About Fire Risks Around Robots
Mar 6 2019 // The Andover fire brigade was alerted at 2.34 a.m. About 2 miles across town, a fire had broken out in the early hours of Feb. 5 at a state-of-the-art Ocado Group Plc warehouse. Within minutes, firefighters were tackling a...
Update: Aon Considers Bid to Buy Willis Towers Watson
Mar 5 2019 // Aon Plc is considering a combination with rival insurance brokerage Willis Towers Watson Plc, in what could be the industry’s largest ever merger. Aon is in the early stages of exploring an all-share tie-up with...
UK Online Grocer Ocado Learns Lessons About Robotic Warehouses After Massive Fire
Mar 4 2019 // The Andover fire brigade was alerted at 2.34 a.m. About 2 miles across town, a fire had broken out in the early hours of Feb. 5 at a state-of-the-art Ocado Group Plc warehouse. Within minutes, firefighters were tackling a...
Aviva Gets Court Approval to Move Assets to Ireland as Part of Wider Brexit Wave
Feb 20 2019 // England’s High Court on Tuesday gave Aviva, Britain’s second largest insurer, approval to transfer around 9 billion pounds ($11.69 billion) in assets to a new Irish company just before the starting gun is fired...
UK Probe of Wholesale Brokers Finds No Evidence of Anti-Competitive Behavior
Feb 20 2019 // Britain’s wholesale insurance brokers got a clean bill of health from the markets watchdog on Wednesday, providing some relief for an industry already spending millions of pounds on Brexit. London’s insurance...
A.M. Best Makes Senior Management Changes, Restructures Organization
Feb 19 2019 // A.M. Best announced that Roger Sellek will step down as CEO of its Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Asia Pacific (AP) regions at the end of March. As part of its succession planning process, A.M. Best has also...
UK Insurer Aviva Prepares for ‘Hard Brexit’ by Transferring Assets from UK
Feb 14 2019 // Aviva Plc asked a London court to approve the transfer of assets totaling 9 billion euros ($10.2 billion), saying the uncertainty from Brexit was “intensifying” as it joined other insurers and banks triggering...
Uber’s London License Faces New Legal Challenge as Cab Drivers Fight Back
Feb 13 2019 // Months after Uber Technologies Inc. won a reprieve in a high-stakes battle over its operations in the U.K. capital, its London license is back in question. United Cabbies Group, which represents taxi drivers in the...
MGU Lodestar Marine and Aspen Insurance Form Agreement to Provide P&I Cover
Feb 13 2019 // Lodestar Marine, the London-based managing general underwriter, announced an agreement with Aspen Insurance to provide protection & indemnity insurance (P&I) to the owners and managers of small and specialized...
Ascot and Beazley Launch $50M Insurtech-Linked Cargo Consortium for SMEs
Feb 13 2019 // Ascot and Beazley announced the launch of a Lloyd’s-based cargo consortium, which uses insurtech solutions to help manage risk and claims performance. Led by Ascot and Beazley, the consortium brings together a range...
London’s Electronic Placements via PPL Exceeded Targets During Q4 2018
Feb 7 2019 // London’s electronic placing platform exceeded its target of 30 percent of in-scope risks during the fourth quarter of 2018, according to the board of Placing Platform Ltd. (PPL). Lloyd’s syndicates accepted 39...
Being Independent, Nimble and Niche: Keys to SSL Endeavour’s Aim to Put Clients First
Feb 6 2019 // By creating an innovative and nimble operating platform, SSL Endeavour, London-based Lloyd’s broker, aims to attract and retain the best entrepreneurial brokers who are freed up to create innovative client solutions,...
UK’s Financial Services Industry Still Unscathed from Brexit Uncertainty: Reuters
Feb 5 2019 // Britain’s financial services industry has emerged largely unscathed so far from the build-up to Brexit, with about 2,000 roles expected to have moved or been created overseas even as the risk of a disorderly exit...
AXA Real Estate Unit Confident About Its London Skyscraper, Despite Brexit Uncertainty
Jan 31 2019 // It was a tricky time for the commercial real estate business in London. Within days, Britons would be voting on whether to remain in the European Union or leave. The French insurance giant AXA SA was trying to figure out...
London’s Electronic Placing Platform PPL Announces Updates, Enhancements
Jan 28 2019 // The London market’s electronic placing platform, PPL Ltd., announced a platform update. PPL said the new release includes: An enhancement so the broker can now select multiple stamps for facilities. The underwriter...
Metals Financing Fraud Lawsuits Reveal Risks of Relying on Paper Receipts
Jan 28 2019 // When the man running one of London’s biggest metals brokerages found a new client who wanted to finance large volumes of nickel held in warehouses in Asia, he thought the deal promised major rewards. Less than a year...
BHSI Expands into UK-Ireland Property Construction, Taps Scor’s Seamer to Lead Team
Jan 18 2019 // Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI) announced it is expanding into the property construction insurance market in the UK and Ireland and has appointed Simeon Seamer to lead the effort as head of Property...
Guy Carpenter Forms New Division, Makes Post-JLT Merger Leadership Appointments
Jan 17 2019 // Reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter & Co. announced the formation of a new Global Capital Solutions Group as well as a series of leadership appointments that will become effective upon the closing of the acquisition of...
Brexit Update: City of London Prepares for Worst, Hopes for Best
Jan 17 2019 // Dismay, confusion, relief — and hope. The City of London had a range of reactions to the U.K. Parliament’s overwhelming rejection Tuesday night of Prime Minister Theresa May’s blueprint for quitting the...
