Latest France Headlines

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

French Insurance Giant AXA’s 2006 Profit Rises 18%

Feb 23 2007 // French insurance giant AXA SA said Thursday that improving sales in its life insurance and asset management businesses helped lift 2006 profit 18 percent.Beating analysts’ predictions, AXA’s net income rose to...

AXA Posts Earnings Gains in all Sectors

Feb 5 2007 // France’s AXA Group joined the growing parade of big insurance companies who had a banner year in 2006. The financial services and insurance giant posted gains in all of its principal activities.Life & Savings...

AIR Estimates Europe Storm Insured Losses at $5 to $10 Billion

Jan 22 2007 // Catastrophe risk modeler AIR Worldwide has issued a bulletin estimating insured losses from Winter Storm Kyrill (or Cyril) at between €4 billion and €8 billion ($5.18 billion and $10.37 billion). The GDV German...

Best Affirms AGF’s ‘A+’ Ratings

Jan 3 2007 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of “A+” (Superior) and the issuer credit rating (ICR) of “aa-” of France’s AGF Group and the ICR of “a-” of the...

Commentary: In an Electoral Defeat – Echoes of the ‘Great War’

Nov 10 2006 // As the Republican Neo-Con Light Brigade charged into the Democratic Valley of Death on Tuesday Nov. 7th, echoes of another far off war could be heard. It will be 88 years on Saturday that the guns finally fell silent,...

Best Affirms Groupama Ratings

Nov 10 2006 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of “A” (Excellent) and the issuer credit rating (ICR) of “a” of France’s Groupama S.A. Best also affirmed the FSR of...

AXA Records Strong 9-Month Growth

Nov 9 2006 // France’s AXA Group reported gains in all sectors for the first nine months of 2006, with life and savings entities leading the way. New business volume in the sector rose 14 percent to €4.473 billion ($5.72...

French Court Dismisses Suit by 1992 Airbus Crash Victims’ Families

Oct 10 2006 // A court in eastern France last week threw out a lawsuit by families of victims of a 1992 plane crash that accused the government of dragging out prosecution of the case.After a 14-year investigation, defense aviation...

French Protesters Urge Nationwide Anti-Asbestos Lawsuit

Oct 3 2006 // Thousands of protesters gathered this past weekend at a landmark Paris tower once lined with asbestos to demand a nationwide lawsuit against those who allowed workers to be exposed to the hazardous substance.Relatives of...

Allianz Reaches Agreement with RAS, Employees for SE Plan

Sep 21 2006 // Germany’s Allianz announced that it has reached an agreement with employee representatives of its Italian subsidiary RAS Holding S.p.A on “the future structure for the operational and corporate codetermination...

Guy Carpenter, EQECAT Launch New Sea Surge Model for France, Sweden

Sep 5 2006 // Guy Carpenter & Company, Inc., the global risk and reinsurance specialist of the Marsh & McLennan Companies, announced that its Instrat(R) unit, which provides quantitative analysis and modeling services, has...

French executive pleads guilty in Executive Life case

Aug 7 2006 // A former managing director of a subsidiary of Credit Lyonnais plead guilty to four felony counts of causing the bank to make false statements to the Federal Reserve Bank.Jean-Francois Henin, 62, of Paris, entered his plea...

Best’s 2006 European review highlights common industry concerns

Aug 7 2006 // For the insurance industry, global controversies tend to obscure some equally important debates going on in smaller forums around the globe. The principal controversy in the U.S. revolves around state vs. federal...

Best’s 2006 European review highlights common industry concerns

Aug 7 2006 // For the insurance industry, global controversies tend to obscure some equally important debates going on in smaller forums around the globe. The principal controversy in the U.S. revolves around state vs. federal...

SCOR Opts to Become First French Societas Europaea

Jul 6 2006 // France’s SCOR Group announced that its Board of Directors has adopted plans to transform the Company into a Societas Europaea, or SE. SCOR SA – its current status – will become the first French listed...

France vs. Italy in World Cup Final

Jul 5 2006 // An impenetrable defense and a killer penalty goal from its 34-year old captain, Zinadine Zidane, propelled France into the World Cup Football (Soccer) final tonight.The final score – France 1/Portugal 0 –...

News Briefs

Jul 4 2006 // EU Leaders Fiddle While Europe Burns: The crisis in the European Union, provoked when French and Dutch voters rejected the EU Constitution, is being largely ignored by Europe’s leaders. Instead of a bit of...

S&P Affirms CCR’s ‘AAA’ Rating

Jun 8 2006 // Triple “A” ratings have been on the endangered species list for some time, but they do still exist. Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has just affirmed its ‘AAA’ long-term counterparty...

AXA Posts Strong Q1 Results

May 11 2006 // France’s AXA Group’s earnings figures for the first quarter of 2006 show strong growth in its three main sectors of operation – summarized as follows:— Life & Savings entities new business up...

ACE European Names French, Hayward to London Underwriting Posts

Apr 18 2006 // ACE European Markets has made two appointments at its London branch office. Stephen French has been appointed to chief underwriting officer. This is a new role will focus on core businesses of property, excess liability...