Latest Asia Headlines

All the headlines from our Asia Topic Page, ordered by recency.

AIG’s $4.8 Billion Sale of Aircraft Unit to Chinese Group Faces U.S. Security Review

Dec 10 2012 // American International Group Inc. is to sell nearly all of ILFC , the world’s second-largest airplane leasing business, to a Chinese consortium for up to $4.8 billion, giving the fastest growing aviation market...

UPDATE: Chinese Group to Buy AIG’s Plane Leasing Unit for up to $4.8 Billion

Dec 10 2012 // American International Group has agreed to sell nearly all of ILFC , the world’s second-largest airplane leasing business, to a Chinese consortium for up to $4.8 billion, giving the fastest growing aviation market...

Willis International Announces European Leadership Appointments

Dec 4 2012 // Willis Group Holdings has announced a series of senior leadership appointments in its Willis International business unit, “focusing on its UK and wider European operations.” Willis also explained that the new...

South to Head Marsh’s Combined Asia-Pacific; Piccolomini Continental Europe

Nov 29 2012 // Marsh has embarked on a major reordering of its regional activities, which it said is “in order to align the delivery of its global capabilities more closely to the needs of clients around the world.” Marsh has...

Willis Launches ‘DARCstar’ Directors’ All Risks Cover in Asia-Pacific Region

Nov 14 2012 // Willis Group Holdings announced the launch of its directors’ all risks cover (DARCstar) in Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore, which it said offers “unique” coverage.Willis explained that “DARCstar...

Foreign Insurers Enter Myanmar Market with Hope, Caution

Nov 7 2012 // The world’s top insurance firms are setting their sights on Myanmar, steeling themselves for a fight with corruption and ghosts from the nation’s political past.Prudential Plc, AIA Group Ltd and Manulife...

Xchanging Unveils Plans for More Asian Expansion

Nov 5 2012 // Xchanging, the business process, procurement and technology services provider and integrator, has announced its intention to open new delivery centers at two locations in Asia.The service provider already operates in 11...

Hong Kong’s Li Returns to Insurance with $2.1 Billion ING Deal

Oct 19 2012 // Hong Kong businessman Richard Li, the younger son of Asia’s richest man, is buying ING’s Hong Kong, Macau and Thailand insurance units for $2.14 billion in cash, bringing the Dutch financial services company a...

Hong Kong’s Li Nears $2 Billion Acquisition of ING Units: Reuters

Oct 18 2012 // Hong Kong businessman Richard Li, younger son of Asia’s richest man Li Ka-shing, is nearing a deal to buy ING’s Hong Kong and Thailand business for over $2 billion, sources with direct knowledge of the matter...

ING to Sell Malaysian Insurance Unit to AIA for $1.73 Billion

Oct 11 2012 // Pan Asian insurer AIA Group Ltd has agreed to buy ING’s Malaysian insurance operations for $1.73 billion in cash, handing the Dutch financial services firm its first deal in a nine-month drive to sell off Asian...

India’s Battered Insurers May Need More than Foreign Investment

Oct 10 2012 // India’s proposal to allow more foreign investment in its $41 billion insurance business provides a lifeline for an industry starved of capital and squeezed by regulation – but it may not pass parliament and it...

Aon Benfield’s Monthly Cat Recap Focuses on $7.5 Billion Asian Flood Losses

Oct 5 2012 // Asian flood losses during the third quarter of 2012 aggregated more than $7.5 billion in economic losses, of which China was the worst hit by two separate flood events that affected several provinces.“The most costly...

CPC Forecasts Weak El Niño for Northern Hemisphere Winter

Oct 5 2012 // The U.S. national weather forecaster still expects the much-feared El Niño phenomenon, which can wreak havoc on global weather, to remain weak into the Northern Hemisphere winter, even after its development slowed last...

AIR Worldwide Opens Singapore Office to Expand in Asia-Pacific

Oct 1 2012 // AIR Worldwide announced the opening of an office in Singapore to meet the expanding needs of clients in the Asian insurance market.“AIR has kept pace with the fast-growing markets and our equally fast-growing client...

Ameriprise in Talks to Buy ING’s Asian Asset Management Arm – Report

Sep 27 2012 // Ameriprise Financial Inc is in advanced talks to buy most of ING Group’s asset management business in Asia, Bloomberg reported, citing two people with knowledge of the matter.The companies are still negotiating on...

Aon Hewitt Opens New Office in Indonesia

Sep 18 2012 // Aon Hewitt, the global human resource solutions business of Aon plc, has opened a new office in Jakarta, Indonesia, as part of its regional expansion strategy.“The fast growing economy of Indonesia offers Aon Hewitt...

Myanmar to Open Insurance Sector to Foreigners in 2015

Sep 14 2012 // Myanmar will allow foreign investors into its insurance sector by around 2015 once local private insurers have had time to establish themselves, a senior government official told Reuters.“We need to give these local...

Swiss Re’s Chief Economist on the State of the Global Economy

Sep 14 2012 // “The European debt crisis is affecting the global economy, definitely,” said Kurt Karl, Swiss Re’s chief economist in an interview at the recent Reinsurance Rendezvous in Monte Carlo.He did indicate that...

Commentary by Gordon Brown:* Europe Risks Going the Way of Japan

Sep 14 2012 // The good news is that Europe is no longer going the way of Greece. The sad news is that it is threatening to go the way of Japan.After years of hesitation punctuated by panic, Europe has finally accepted the compelling...

Asia’s Insurers Hiring While Bankers Face the Axe

Sep 10 2012 // Slowing economic growth across much of Asia has failed to crimp expansion plans by the region’s insurance companies, even as the rest of the financial industry slashes jobs.While banks and brokerages cut costs and...