International & Reinsurance News

Earthquake Hits Japan’s Industrial Heartland, Causing 3 Deaths; Trains, Factories Halted

Three people were confirmed dead and almost 100 injured after a strong earthquake hit Osaka on Monday morning, rattling one of Japan’s industrial heartlands and halting trains and factories across the region. The earthquake struck at 7:58 a.m. local time, …

UK Court Rules Contractor Entitled to Employment Rights in Test Case for Gig Economy

A London plumber who claimed he was unfairly dismissed after years of working as a contractor won a court ruling Wednesday [June 13] giving him employment rights, in a closely watched case testing labor rules in the so-called gig economy. …

Chilton to Step Down as CEO of Gallagher’s UK Operations; Succeeded by Matson

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. announced that the head of the company’s UK-based brokerage and underwriting division, Grahame “Chily” Chilton, will be stepping down from his role as chief executive officer later this year. Subject to regulatory approval, Simon Matson, …

South Africa Insurer Liberty Refuses to Pay Ransom Demand After Data Breach

Liberty Holdings Ltd., the South African insurer midway through an overhaul to improve profit, said it refused a ransom demand after hackers breached its information-technology infrastructure and accessed some emails. The stock fell the most since April 4. “We did …

Russian Industrial Plants Turn to State Reinsurer to Take More Risk after U.S. Sanctions

Dozens of industrial plants in Russia have turned to the state’s reinsurance company for cover after an extension of U.S. sanctions made it difficult to get reinsurance elsewhere, the head of that firm told Reuters. The Russian National Reinsurance Co. …

Germany Moves Toward U.S.-Style Class-Actions, Benefiting VW Diesel Car Litigants

Germany will allow interest groups to sue on behalf of consumers, taking a tentative step toward U.S.-style class-action lawsuits in a bid to make it easier to collect damages from big companies in the aftermath of Volkswagen AG’s diesel-cheating scandal. …

Massive Cyber Attack of UK Retailer Dixons Carphone Prompts Data Watchdog Probe

The U.K.’s data-protection watchdog said it’s investigating a cyber attack at Dixons Carphone Plc that affected almost 6 million payment cards. The retailer, already struggling with a slowing mobile-phone market in the U.K. and the rise of Amazon.com Inc., said …

Sompo International Launches Transaction Risk Insurance in Europe

Sompo International Holdings Ltd., a Bermuda-based specialty provider of property and casualty insurance and reinsurance, announced today that the company’s European specialty platform has introduced a new transaction risk insurance line of business, expanding its professional lines insurance offerings in …

Global Warming Likely to Exceed Paris Agreement Cap of 1.5°C by 2040: UN

Global warming is on course to exceed the most stringent goal set in the Paris agreement by around 2040, threatening economic growth, according to a draft report that is the U.N.’s starkest warning yet of the risks of climate change. …

UK MGU StartPoint Taps Liberty Specialty’s Selby to Lead Financial Institutions Team

London-based managing general underwriter StartPoint Executive Risks has appointed Mark Selby as head of its newly created financial institutions underwriting practice. The FI practice is a complement to the current management liability underwriting practice and a next stage in the …

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