Latest Japan Headlines

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

Great American To Sell Japanese Division To Mitsui

Dec 18 2000 // Great American Ins. Co., a division of American Financial Group, has agreed to sell its Japanese Division to Mitsui Marine & Fire Ins. Co. of America, for $22 million in cash, and the transfer of existing assets and...

Japan OK’s Hartford Annuity Sales

Dec 15 2000 // Japan’s Financial Reconstruction Commission approved the license application of Hartford Life Ins. Co. KK, The Hartford’s Japanese subsidiary, to sell variable annuities. Hartford immediately announced that...

RMS, Japanese Partner Complete Cat Exposure Model

Nov 17 2000 // Menlo Park based, Risk Management Solutions (RMS) and its Japanese partner OYO Corporation announced that their joint venture, OYO RMS, has completed “a detailed natural hazard risk analysis for the National Mutual...

Swiss Re Study Examines Changes in Japanese Market

Nov 14 2000 // Swiss Re’s new Sigma 8/2000 report, “Japan’s Insurance Markets—A Sea Change,” examines the industry in depth and discusses the uncertainties and the future outlook. “Financial market...

Japanese Regulator Seeks Reduction in Life Payouts

Nov 8 2000 // In a controversial move Hideyuki Aizawa, the head of Japan’s Financial Reconstruction Commission, which is trying to straighten out the country’s financial problems, highlighted by the recent failure of two...

Japanese P/C Insurers In Merger Talks

Nov 3 2000 // Another round of consolidation is shaping up in the Japanese insurance industry with the announcement that Yasuda Fire & Marine Ins. Co., Nissan Fire & Marine Ins. Co. and Taisei Fire & Marine Ins. Co. are...

More Fallout From Japanese Life Failures

Oct 24 2000 // Masaharu Hino, the head of Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) which oversees the Japanese insurance industry, indicated that his office would press life insurers to supply more information concerning their...

Japanese Life-P/C Insurers In Talks To Form Alliance

Oct 23 2000 // Nippon Life Insurance Co., Japan’s largest, was reportedly holding talks with Mitsui Marine & Fire Insurance Co., its 3rd largest p/c insurer and Sumitomo Marine & Fire Insurance Co., its 5th largest, in an...

Japan Life Sector – Kyoei To File For Protection – AIG Appointed For Chiyoda

Oct 20 2000 // More trouble was announced this morning for Japan’s life insurance sector with the news that Kyoei Life Insurance, the nation’s 11th largest life insurer, is preparing to file for court protection. With total...

Hartford Seeking To Sell Variable Annuities in Japan

Oct 11 2000 // Hartford Financial Services Group has applied for permission from the Financial Services Administration for permission to begin marketing variable annuity products through its Japanese subsidiary. As in the U.S., flexible...

S&P Confirms Earthquake Didn’t Trigger Japanese Cat Bonds

Oct 10 2000 // While the earthquake which struck Western Japan last week was very strong, measuring 7.3 on the Japanese Meteorological Agency scale, it was extremely deep, and the epicenter was far from a major population center –...

Chiyoda Life Seeks Bankruptcy Protection

Oct 9 2000 // Chiyoda Mutual Life Insurance Co. became the latest, and so far largest, victim of Japan’s troubled financial community, when it filed for bankruptcy protection Monday, listing outstanding debt of 2.94 trillion yen...

7.1 Earthquake Jolts Japan

Oct 6 2000 // An earthquake measuring 7.1 on the Richter Scale jolted southwestern Japan in the early afternoon Friday, but early reports indicate it caused only moderate damage. According to the BBC, the quake, which lasted about 40...

Japanese Insurers Confirm Merger Plans

Sep 18 2000 // Confirming earlier reports, Japan’s largest p/c insurer, Tokio Marine and Fire Insurance Co. Ltd. plans to merge with the 5th largest life insurer, Asahi Mutual Life and a smaller p/c company Nichido Fire &...

Tokio Marine Reported in Merger Talks

Sep 14 2000 // Japan’s largest non-life insurer, Tokio Marine & Fire Insurance Co., is reported by Reuters News Agency to be in the last stages of talks with Asahi Mutual Life Insurance to join their companies to create one of...

Typhoon Rains Paralyze Japan

Sep 12 2000 // Extremely heavy rains caused by Typhoon Saomai hit central Japan, causing widespread destruction and four deaths. A record 9.3 cms. (more than 3 1/ inches) fell in an hour, paralyzing transport and forcing thousands to...

AFLAC, Dai-Ichi Alliance Announced

Sep 7 2000 // The famous AFLAC duck may soon be flying higher in the Japanese insurance market, as the company announced an impending alliance with Dai-Ichi Mutual, the country’s second largest life insurer. AFLAC has been in...

Japan Regulators Shut Down Taisho Life

Aug 29 2000 // Officials of Japan’s Financial Services Agency ordered the closure of Taisho Life Insurance Company on Monday after Yoshihiko Kokura, the chairman of its principal shareholder, Claremont Capital Holdings Inc., was...

Japanese P/C, Life Insurers to Combine Operations

Aug 28 2000 // In what would be a first ever alliance, Japan’s second largest life insurer, Dai-Ichi Mutual Life Insurance, and leading p/c insurer, Yasuda Fire & Marine Insurance Co., have reportedly agreed to combine...

Report Japan Earthquake Worries

Aug 14 2000 // A report by the Associated Press reveals increasing concern in Japan that “a big one” may occur at any time, and could reach or exceed the level of the 1923 earthquake which killed over 100,000 people in Tokyo...