Latest Europe Headlines

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

Munich Re 2007 Nat Cat Report Warns of ‘Rising Trend’

Dec 28 2007 // Munich Re’s loss figures for 2007 from natural catastrophes concludes that “despite the general absence of extreme events, overall economic losses had reached $75 billion by the end of December – an...

2007: Climate Change Dominates Debate While Soft Market Hits Entire P/C Market

Dec 23 2007 // The debate over climate change captured the world’s attention, including the insurance industry’s, in 2007, while major hurricanes spared the United States’ coastline. The soft market took hold of...

Preliminary Swiss Re ‘sigma’ Report Estimates 2007 Cat Losses

Dec 19 2007 // Swiss Re has released a preliminary “sigma” report detailing the extent of 2007’s catastrophe losses. According to its initial estimates, more than 20,000 people were killed by natural and man-made...

Ratings Recap: London General, AIG Global Trade, Kiln, PartnerRe (Europe), New Technology, Radian (Europe), Allied World

Dec 17 2007 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength ratings of ‘A-‘ (Excellent) and issuer credit ratings of “a-” of London General Insurance Company Limited (LGI) and London General Life Company...

UN Climate Chief Says US-EU Deadlock over Emissions Cuts Threatens Summit

Dec 14 2007 // The U.N. climate chief warned on Thursday that a deadlock between the United States and the European Union over pollution cuts threatened to derail talks aimed at launching negotiations for a new global warming...

Marsh Adds two Execs to Communications, Media and Technology Team

Dec 11 2007 // Marsh announced from its London office that Hutton Swinglehurst has been named as a Senior Vice President and Matthew Hogg as a Vice President of its global Communications, Media and Technology Practice (CMT). Both men...

Best Appoints Charteris-Black Director – Global Financial Services

Dec 11 2007 // A.M. Best Co announced that Nick Charteris-Black will be joining the rating agency during the first quarter of 2008 as Director – Global Financial Services for A.M. Best Europe.He will be located in Best’s...

Ratings Recap: China (NZ), Hannover ReTakaful, Fairfax, Radian (Europe)

Dec 5 2007 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating of B+ (Good) and the issuer credit rating (ICR) of “bbb-” of China Insurance (NZ) Company Limited of New Zealand with a stable outlook. The ratings...

Baugh to Replace Glaser at AIG UK; Portalatin, Hernandez Move Up

Dec 3 2007 // Following the departure of Daniel Glaser to Head Marsh (See related article), American International Group announced the promotion of three executives in its Foreign General insurance operations.Alexander R. Baugh will...

Zurich Appoints Kath, Barnes to New Claims Positions

Nov 29 2007 // Zurich Financial Services announced changes in the claims division of its global corporate and European General insurance units.Jutta Kath, 47, who is currently Chief Claims Officer for Global Corporate, has been appointed...

Willis Names Piccolomini to Head Continental Europe Operations

Nov 27 2007 // Willis Group Holdings announced that Flavio Piccolomini, former CEO of Willis’ Italian operations, Willis Italia Spa, has been appointed CEO for Continental Europe, including the Nordic region. He will report to...

Ratings Recap: MMA, Shinkong, First Ins., Singapore Re, Swiss Re, W.R. Berkley (Europe)

Nov 21 2007 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has raised its long-term counterparty credit and insurer financial strength ratings on France-based insurer MMA IARD Assurances Mutuelle (MMA IARD) to ‘A’ from...

Guy Carp’s New Czech Flood Model

Nov 16 2007 // Guy Carpenter & Company, LLC announced that its Instrat ® unit has introduced a new, fully probabilistic flood model for the Czech Republic. “The model provides insurers with a reliable, high-quality set of...

S&P to Hold Conferences on European Bank Sector

Nov 16 2007 // Standard & Poor’s announced that it will be holding conferences on the European bank sector across Europe. The meetings will concentrate on “how financial institutions are managing their way through the...

Agents Tell Treasury Financial Regulation Study Questions Biased

Nov 15 2007 // A notice published in the Federal Register seeking comments for a broad Treasury Department review of financial regulation is biased in favor of federal regulation of insurance and foreign business entities, according to...

Guy Carp Makes Europe, Asia Pacific Executive Changes

Nov 13 2007 // Guy Carpenter & Company, LLC has announced a number of key executive appointments to its European and Asia Pacific broking operations.Nick Frankland, formerly CEO of UK Operations, has been appointed to the newly...

Lloyd’s Counsel Decries ‘Red Herring’ Objections to Collateral Reform

Nov 8 2007 // Sean McGovern, Lloyd’s Director and General Counsel, accused the opponents of reforming the U.S. collateral trust rules on reinsurance of introducing the “latest red herring” into the debate.In a strongly...

Berkley to Buyout Kiln’s Stake in W. R. Berkley Insurance (Europe)

Nov 7 2007 // W. R. Berkley Corporation announced that it has agreed in principle to purchase the 20 percent minority interest in W. R. Berkley Insurance (Europe), Limited held by Kiln Ltd. for approximately $50.1 million (£24.5...

S&P Examines Europe’s Insurers Exposure to ‘Credit Crunch’

Nov 6 2007 // Standard & Poor’s has published an “Industry Report Card” on Europe’s insurers, which examines their situation “in the aftermath of the subprime credit crunch,” the findings of an...

Ratings Recap: Medical Ins. (Australia), Swiss Re Europe, Aseguradora Mundial

Nov 6 2007 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has assigned its ‘BBB+’ rating on Medical Insurance Australia Pty Ltd., a national medical indemnity insurer and the largest in South Australia, with a stable...