Latest S&P Headlines

All the headlines from our S&P Topic Page, ordered by recency.

S&P Analyzes Earthquake Threat for Japan’s Property/Casualty Companies

Sep 12 2005 // “The one-two punch of insurance payouts and share price losses following a major earthquake in Tokyo would not immediately jeopardize insurance companies’ ability to pay claims, but could have a negative impact...

S&P Puts 10 Insurers on “Katrina” CreditWatch/Negative

Sep 12 2005 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services announced that it has placed its ratings on 10 interactively rated insurance and reinsurance groups on CreditWatch with negative implications due to their possible...

S&P Assigns NGI ‘BBB’ Rating

Sep 9 2005 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services announced that it has assigned its “BBB” long-term counterparty credit and insurer financial strength ratings to Dubai-based insurer National General Insurance...

S&P Issues Report on European Insurers U.S. Operations

Sep 8 2005 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has issued a new report on how European insurers are doing in the U.S. market. The article entitled “Some European Insurers Maintain U.S. Property/Casualty Operations...

Australian P/C Insurers Credit Quality Remains Strong Says S&P

Sep 6 2005 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has issued a statement indicating that “credit quality among the nonlife insurance players in Australia should remain strong over the next couple of years, supported by...

S&P Puts Skandia on CreditWatch/Negative Following Bid from Old Mutual

Sep 6 2005 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services announced that it has placed its “A” long-term counterparty credit rating and “A-” long-term senior unsecured debt rating on Sweden’s Skandia...

Zenith National Affirmed

Sep 5 2005 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services affirmed its “BB+” counterparty credit rating and “B+”‘ preferred stock rating on Zenith National Insurance Corp. S&P also affirmed its...

ACE’s U.S. Subsidiaries Upgraded

Sep 5 2005 // A.M. Best Co. upgraded the financial strength ratings to “A+” (superior) from “A” (excellent) and assigned issuer credit ratings of “aa-” to ACE Westchester Specialty Group,...

S&P Puts Alea Group on CreditWatch/Negative

Sep 2 2005 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services announced that it has placed its “A-” long-term counterparty credit and insurer financial strength ratings on Alea Europe AG, Alea (Bermuda) Ltd., Alea Global Risk...

S&P Assigns ‘BBB+’ Rating to Slovenia’s Sava Re

Sep 1 2005 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services announced that it has assigned its “BBB+” long-term counterparty credit and insurer financial strength ratings to Slovenia-based reinsurer Pozavarovalnica Sava,...

S&P Puts OIL’s ‘A+’ Ratings on Credit/Watch-Negative

Sep 1 2005 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has registered a quick reaction to the ravages of Hurricane Katrina on the petroleum industry. S&P announced that it has placed its “A+” counterparty credit...

S&P Says Katrina Won’t Hit Cat Bonds

Aug 30 2005 // Although they are still relatively rare, compared to the number of commercial property policies in force, a number of cat bonds covering specific property risks were briefly threatened by Hurricane Katrina.However,...

S&P Comments on Korean Insurance Industry Transparency Plan

Aug 18 2005 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has given a definite maybe to a newly unveiled reform plan for Korea’s insurers. The rating agency called the plan “a good start towards enhancing the...

S&P: Without Contingent Commissions, Some Insurance Brokers Still Cope

Aug 16 2005 // With the outlooks on Aon Corp. and Willis Group Holdings Ltd. — two of the world’s largest insurance brokers — having recently been revised to stable from negative, the industry is beginning to recover...

S&P Affirms Allianz (Australia/NZ) Ratings; Revises Outlook to Positive

Aug 12 2005 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services announced that it has affirmed the long-term “A” insurer financial strength and counterparty credit ratings on Allianz Australia and its affiliate Allianz New...

S&P Affirms Willis ‘BBB-‘ Ratings

Aug 12 2005 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services announced that it has affirmed its “BBB-” counterparty credit and senior unsecured debt ratings on Willis Group Holdings Ltd. and has revised the outlook to stable...

Zenith National, Units Outlook Revised to Postivie; Ratings Affirmed

Aug 11 2005 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has affirmed its ‘BB+’ counterparty credit rating and ‘B+’ preferred stock rating on Zenith National Insurance Corp. (Zenith).Standard &...

S&P Assigns ‘BBB’ Rating to Jordanian Insurer IGI

Aug 10 2005 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services announced that it has assigned its ‘BBB’ long-term counterparty credit and insurer financial strength ratings to Jordan-based insurer International General...

S&P Ups Lloyd Adriatico Ratings to ‘AA-‘

Aug 10 2005 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services announced that it has raised its long-term counterparty credit and insurer financial strength ratings on Italy-based composite insurer Lloyd Adriatico SpA (LA) to...

S&P Affirms Fairfax Ratings; Outlook Raised to Positive

Aug 10 2005 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services announced that it has affirmed its “BBB” counterparty credit and financial strength ratings on Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd.’s (FFH) ongoing operating...