US tries again with asbestos law
14 April 2004
US senators have succeeded in getting the contentious Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution Bill back on to the Senate agenda, after a year-long struggle…
International
Zurich revises its strategy
06 April 2004
Global insurer Zurich Financial Services has published the results of a comprehensive review of its life and general insurance operations…
UK works out more reform details
06 April 2004
Britain’s Financial Services Authority (FSA) has finalised the reporting requirements for general insurance, mortgage insurance and retail investment firms…
US insurers doing better
06 April 2004
US insurers have recorded a 10% jump in net operating income for 2003, according to ratings agency Fitch…
Oops! Actress was acting
06 April 2004
Japan’s state-run pension scheme, which is compulsory for citizens aged 20 to 59 – needed someone to front its new “get tough” advertising campaign…
Swiss Re recovers
30 March 2004
Swiss Re has confirmed its place at the top of the reinsurance pile with a net profit of $1.84 billion – a big improvement on last year’s $98.6 million loss…
Asbestos back on US Senate agenda
30 March 2004
After failing last year to gain support for legislation to control the runaway asbestos litigation problem, legislators are ready to try again…
Equitas settles with US insurers
30 March 2004
Equitas, the Lloyd’s vehicle for handling the market’s huge pre-1993 asbestos exposure, has reached a final settlement of all claims related to giant US insurer Travelers…
Silverstein tells of insurance snag
30 March 2004
World Trade Centre leaseholder Larry Silverstein finally got his day in the witness box late last week, but it was just for 30 minutes…
Silverstein lashes out, and lands in trouble
23 March 2004
World Trade Centre leaseholder Larry Silverstein narrowly avoided being barred from his own court case this morning…
Loss signals end to Munich Re’s three miserable years
23 March 2004
It used to be that the only reinsurers which made a loss were those on their way out, but that’s no longer the case…
UK freezes premium taxes
23 March 2004
British Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown has announced a freeze on insurance premium taxes, holding them at 5%…
Allianz still struggles to achieve success
23 March 2004
German insurer Allianz is still grappling with massive deficits in its operations…
Like father, like sons
16 March 2004
They say insurance is a family kind of industry, but the Greenberg family has taken it to the extreme…
More bad news for Royal & Sun Alliance
16 March 2004
They might have done very well selling Promina off last year, but it doesn’t appear to have done London-based Royal & Sun Alliance a whole lot of good…
Cover in place for Madrid terrorism losses
16 March 2004
Losses arising from the bombing of Spanish commuter trains in Madrid last week – which killed nearly 200 people and injured another 1,400 – will probably be covered…
Immelt still keen to sell
16 March 2004
Global comglomerate GE loves the sort of profits its Employers Re Corporation is bringing in – but Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt still wants out of the insurance business…
Axa back on the acquisition trail
09 March 2004
Axa CEO Henri de Castries is on the lookout for new acquisitions after posting a 6.4% rise in net profit to $1.6 billion for 2003…
RIMS still worries about insurers’ reserves
09 March 2004
US risk managers are still worried about insurers’ exposures to asbestos claims and whether the insurers have adequate reserves to meet them…
Names still doing their bit at Lloyd’s
09 March 2004
The Lloyd’s Names – that hardy bunch of wealthy individuals who underwrote the market’s capacity for more than 300 years…