http://www.news-insurances.com News-Insurances.com is an independent online media providing the latest insurance news for the insurance industry and consumers Tue, 07 Sep 2010 00:32:13 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 http://www.news-insurances.com/europe-regulation-an-agreement-should-soon-be-reached/0167304578 http://www.news-insurances.com/europe-regulation-an-agreement-should-soon-be-reached/0167304578#comments Fri, 03 Sep 2010 17:20:38 +0000 Barbara karouski http://www.news-insurances.com/?p=304578 An agreement will be reached by the European Union that will lead to the creation of a new pan-EU supervisory authority which will oversee controls on banks and insurers. It is hoped that the deal, which must still be approved by European finance ministers and the European Parliament, will help stop a repeat of the [...]]]> http://www.news-insurances.com/europe-regulation-an-agreement-should-soon-be-reached/0167304578/feed 0 http://www.news-insurances.com/sweden-opens-inquiry-into-suspect-flu-vaccine/0167268798 http://www.news-insurances.com/sweden-opens-inquiry-into-suspect-flu-vaccine/0167268798#comments Thu, 19 Aug 2010 16:42:41 +0000 Damian Dozol http://www.news-insurances.com/?p=268798 Sweden’s Medical Products Agency opened an inquiry Wednesday into vaccinations for swine flu made by British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline, suspected of provoking narcolepsy. “The MPA has received six reports from health care professionals regarding narcolepsy as suspected adverse drug reaction following Pandemrix flu vaccination,” it said in a statement. “The agency will, in consultation with [...]]]> http://www.news-insurances.com/sweden-opens-inquiry-into-suspect-flu-vaccine/0167268798/feed 0 http://www.news-insurances.com/judge-declares-spains-marsans-insolvent/0167171554 http://www.news-insurances.com/judge-declares-spains-marsans-insolvent/0167171554#comments Wed, 30 Jun 2010 14:57:46 +0000 Damian Dozol http://www.news-insurances.com/?p=171554 Viajes Marsans, one of Spain’s biggest and oldest tour operators, has been declared insolvent, according to a court ruling seen by AFP on Monday. The judge took the decision on Friday after about 20 companies made complaints over unpaid bills. But the judge ruled that Posibilitum Business, which acquired Marsans earlier this month for 600 [...]]]> http://www.news-insurances.com/judge-declares-spains-marsans-insolvent/0167171554/feed 0 http://www.news-insurances.com/europe-should-tax-banks-whatever-g20-decides-commissioner/0167154402 http://www.news-insurances.com/europe-should-tax-banks-whatever-g20-decides-commissioner/0167154402#comments Tue, 22 Jun 2010 13:16:25 +0000 Damian Dozol http://www.news-insurances.com/?p=154402 Europe should tax its banks in order to build up an emergency bail-out fund whatever other major economies decide at this weekend’s G20 summit, EU finance commissioner Michel Barnier said on Tuesday. Europe and the United States are pushing for a levy on banks to raise funds to support collapsing institutions and prevent a repeat [...]]]> http://www.news-insurances.com/europe-should-tax-banks-whatever-g20-decides-commissioner/0167154402/feed 0 http://www.news-insurances.com/europe-braces-for-the-release-of-bank-stress-tests/0167145710 http://www.news-insurances.com/europe-braces-for-the-release-of-bank-stress-tests/0167145710#comments Thu, 17 Jun 2010 15:52:02 +0000 Damian Dozol http://www.news-insurances.com/?p=145710 European governments are taking big steps towards revealing if banks can withstand shocks such as hit the global economy two years ago, and now in reaction to concern about finances in Spain. Officials in Germany and Spain have agreed to publish results of so-called stress tests done on banks to reassure investors who fear banks [...]]]> http://www.news-insurances.com/europe-braces-for-the-release-of-bank-stress-tests/0167145710/feed 0 http://www.news-insurances.com/more-deregulation-would-boost-italy-antitrust-head/0167141934 http://www.news-insurances.com/more-deregulation-would-boost-italy-antitrust-head/0167141934#comments Tue, 15 Jun 2010 16:24:47 +0000 Damian Dozol http://www.news-insurances.com/?p=141934 Italy’s competition watchdog on Tuesday called for more deregulation of the transport, energy and finance sectors to breathe “oxygen” into the economy struggling in the global downturn. “The injection of massive doses of competition” is needed in these sectors, Antitrust president Antonio Catricala said in the agency’s annual report to parliament. Italians pay twice as [...]]]> http://www.news-insurances.com/more-deregulation-would-boost-italy-antitrust-head/0167141934/feed 1 http://www.news-insurances.com/merkel-sarkozy-in-joint-push-for-market-reform/0167130068 http://www.news-insurances.com/merkel-sarkozy-in-joint-push-for-market-reform/0167130068#comments Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:55:52 +0000 George Stobbart http://www.news-insurances.com/?p=130068 France and Germany on Wednesday called for a European ban on certain high-risk market dealings such as naked short selling in a joint appeal that came amid tensions over the eurozone debt crises. French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel wrote jointly to EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and urged quick action [...]]]> http://www.news-insurances.com/merkel-sarkozy-in-joint-push-for-market-reform/0167130068/feed 0 http://www.news-insurances.com/prudentials-thiam-vows-to-regain-trust-after-aia-failure/0167125716 http://www.news-insurances.com/prudentials-thiam-vows-to-regain-trust-after-aia-failure/0167125716#comments Mon, 07 Jun 2010 15:21:06 +0000 George Stobbart http://www.news-insurances.com/?p=125716 Under-fire Prudential chief executive Tidjane Thiam apologised to shareholders on Monday for the failed takeover of US insurance giant AIG’s Asian unit AIA and vowed to work to regain their trust. Thiam told the British insurance company’s annual general meeting that the collapse of the ambitious 35.5-billion-dollar (30-billion-euro) bid last week had caused “significant strains” [...]]]> http://www.news-insurances.com/prudentials-thiam-vows-to-regain-trust-after-aia-failure/0167125716/feed 0 http://www.news-insurances.com/greeks-protest-against-pensions-reform/0167125556 http://www.news-insurances.com/greeks-protest-against-pensions-reform/0167125556#comments Mon, 07 Jun 2010 15:08:17 +0000 George Stobbart http://www.news-insurances.com/?p=125556 Thousands of demonstrators gathered Saturday in Greece to protest against a controversial, debt-dictated pension reform proposal that includes cuts, higher contributions and tougher retirement rules. Protesters rallied around banners warning “hands off social insurance”, and also denouncing the “selling off” of public benefits, following the government’s announcement of a three-year privatisation drive in key sectors. [...]]]> http://www.news-insurances.com/greeks-protest-against-pensions-reform/0167125556/feed 0 http://www.news-insurances.com/hungary-seeks-to-calm-financial-fears/0167125536 http://www.news-insurances.com/hungary-seeks-to-calm-financial-fears/0167125536#comments Mon, 07 Jun 2010 14:55:15 +0000 George Stobbart http://www.news-insurances.com/?p=125536 Hungary’s government hastened to calm fears Saturday with assurances that the country’s public deficit was containable, after earlier statements that it faced similar problems to Greece. “The Hungarian economy has healthy foundations and the deficit target of 3.8 percent of gross domestic product can be maintained for 2010 if we adopt certain measures,” a top [...]]]> http://www.news-insurances.com/hungary-seeks-to-calm-financial-fears/0167125536/feed 0 http://www.news-insurances.com/credit-insurers-could-challenge-ratings-agencies/0167116202 http://www.news-insurances.com/credit-insurers-could-challenge-ratings-agencies/0167116202#comments Wed, 02 Jun 2010 14:40:38 +0000 Damian Dozol http://www.news-insurances.com/?p=116202 Credit insurers have what it takes to be fully-fledged financial ratings agencies and compete with existing ones, French central bank governor Christian Noyer said Wednesday in a press interview. Groups that insure credit “have the know-how and experience, and they are even made to pay if they are wrong,” Noyer said told the German business [...]]]> http://www.news-insurances.com/credit-insurers-could-challenge-ratings-agencies/0167116202/feed 0 http://www.news-insurances.com/europe-moves-to-levy-bank-failure-tax/0167112756 http://www.news-insurances.com/europe-moves-to-levy-bank-failure-tax/0167112756#comments Thu, 27 May 2010 09:53:55 +0000 Damian Dozol http://www.news-insurances.com/?p=112756 Banks will never again be allowed to call on taxpayers to clean up their mess under plans for a new Europe-wide crisis insurance levy unveiled on Wednesday. “What I’m proposing is logical — banks paying for banks, not taxpayers,” said the European Union’s financial services commissioner, former French foreign minister Michel Barnier. He was speaking [...]]]> http://www.news-insurances.com/europe-moves-to-levy-bank-failure-tax/0167112756/feed 0 http://www.news-insurances.com/austria-extends-ban-on-naked-short-selling/0167112454 http://www.news-insurances.com/austria-extends-ban-on-naked-short-selling/0167112454#comments Wed, 26 May 2010 12:35:13 +0000 Damian Dozol http://www.news-insurances.com/?p=112454 The Austrian financial market watchdog, the FMA, said Tuesday it had decided to extend a current temporary ban on so-called naked short-selling by a further six months. “The Austrian Financial Market Authority has extended its temporary prohibition on naked short selling in the cash market” of shares of the banks, Erste Group and Raiffeisen International, [...]]]> http://www.news-insurances.com/austria-extends-ban-on-naked-short-selling/0167112454/feed 0 http://www.news-insurances.com/austrian-inflation-stable-at-2-0-percent-in-april-insurance-costs-also-up/0167110588 http://www.news-insurances.com/austrian-inflation-stable-at-2-0-percent-in-april-insurance-costs-also-up/0167110588#comments Thu, 20 May 2010 09:50:58 +0000 Damian Dozol http://www.news-insurances.com/?p=110588 Austrian inflation remained stable in April at 2.0 percent, on the back of continued high fuel prices, official data showed on Tuesday. The Austrian consumer price index (CPI) rose by 2.0 percent on a 12-month basis, the same rate as in March, Statistik Austria reported. On a month-on-month basis, consumer prices rose by 0.3 percent [...]]]> http://www.news-insurances.com/austrian-inflation-stable-at-2-0-percent-in-april-insurance-costs-also-up/0167110588/feed 0 http://www.news-insurances.com/unemployment-insurance-for-534-jobs-naples-gets-112572-applications/0167110574 http://www.news-insurances.com/unemployment-insurance-for-534-jobs-naples-gets-112572-applications/0167110574#comments Thu, 20 May 2010 09:22:22 +0000 Damian Dozol http://www.news-insurances.com/?p=110574 The southern city of Naples received 112,572 applications for 534 public administration jobs such as traffic police officer and public accountant, Italian media reported on Tuesday. “I’m going to take three tests: for an accountant post, for a traffic police post and for the book-keeping post. This competition is a boat I can’t miss,” 28-year-old [...]]]> http://www.news-insurances.com/unemployment-insurance-for-534-jobs-naples-gets-112572-applications/0167110574/feed 0 http://www.news-insurances.com/europe-to-push-for-tougher-g20-market-regulation/0167109584 http://www.news-insurances.com/europe-to-push-for-tougher-g20-market-regulation/0167109584#comments Mon, 17 May 2010 09:04:33 +0000 Damian Dozol http://www.news-insurances.com/?p=109584 Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou said several European leaders will press for a ban on certain arcane financial tools tied to the 2008 global economic meltdown, in an interview published Monday. Papandreou told Germany’s daily Handelsblatt that he, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and eurogroup chief Jean-Claude Juncker had written to US [...]]]> http://www.news-insurances.com/europe-to-push-for-tougher-g20-market-regulation/0167109584/feed 0 http://www.news-insurances.com/ing-reports-3-2-billion-euro-exposure-to-greek-bonds/0167108122 http://www.news-insurances.com/ing-reports-3-2-billion-euro-exposure-to-greek-bonds/0167108122#comments Wed, 12 May 2010 14:53:45 +0000 Damian Dozol http://www.news-insurances.com/?p=108122 Dutch bank and insurance group ING reported Wednesday an exposure of 3.2 billion euros (4 billion dollars) to Greek government bonds. This was comprised of a 1.9-billion-euro exposure by ING Bank and 1.3 billion euros by ING Insurance, the group said in a statement announcing its 2010 first quarter results. ING said its exposure to [...]]]> http://www.news-insurances.com/ing-reports-3-2-billion-euro-exposure-to-greek-bonds/0167108122/feed 0 http://www.news-insurances.com/airline-sas-says-volcano-cost-it-more-than-66-million-euros/0167106560 http://www.news-insurances.com/airline-sas-says-volcano-cost-it-more-than-66-million-euros/0167106560#comments Fri, 07 May 2010 15:07:04 +0000 Damian Dozol http://www.news-insurances.com/?p=106560 Scandinavian airline SAS said Friday it suffered at least 66 million euros in losses owing to a volcanic ash cloud from Iceland that grounded planes across Europe last month. “SAS estimates the negative impact on earnings up until May 7 to be between 650 and 700 million Swedish kronor (66.4 and 71.4 million euros, or [...]]]> http://www.news-insurances.com/airline-sas-says-volcano-cost-it-more-than-66-million-euros/0167106560/feed 0 http://www.news-insurances.com/polands-pzu-draws-record-number-of-investors/016797474 http://www.news-insurances.com/polands-pzu-draws-record-number-of-investors/016797474#comments Thu, 29 Apr 2010 13:25:46 +0000 Damian Dozol http://www.news-insurances.com/?p=97474 Over a quarter million individual investors signed up for a pool of seven million shares in Poland’s PZU insurance giant, setting a new record, Poland’s Treasury Minister Aleksander Grad said Thursday. “We have a new record on our capital market, over 250,000 investors have signed up for shares in PZU,” the minister told reporters in [...]]]> http://www.news-insurances.com/polands-pzu-draws-record-number-of-investors/016797474/feed 0 http://www.news-insurances.com/flight-ban-extended-due-to-volcanic-ash/016774680 http://www.news-insurances.com/flight-ban-extended-due-to-volcanic-ash/016774680#comments Thu, 15 Apr 2010 16:25:33 +0000 Damian Dozol http://www.news-insurances.com/?p=74680 A ban on flights through UK-controlled airspace will stay in place until at least 7 a.m. on Friday due to the danger posed by a cloud of volcanic ash. A huge ash cloud from an Icelandic volcano turned the skies of northern Europe into a no-fly zone on Thursday, stranding hundreds of thousands of passengers. [...]]]> http://www.news-insurances.com/flight-ban-extended-due-to-volcanic-ash/016774680/feed 0 http://www.news-insurances.com/bulgaria-drops-plans-to-raise-health-insurance/016730330 http://www.news-insurances.com/bulgaria-drops-plans-to-raise-health-insurance/016730330#comments Wed, 17 Mar 2010 11:30:29 +0000 Damian Dozol http://www.news-insurances.com/?p=30330 Public pressure prompted Bulgaria’s cash-strapped government on Wednesday to drop plans to raise health insurance payments and seek other ways to support its under-funded hospitals. Prime Minister Boyko Borisov’s cabinet voted last week to increase monthly health payments for all citizens by 2.0 percentage points to 10 percent of their income in order to pump [...]]]> http://www.news-insurances.com/bulgaria-drops-plans-to-raise-health-insurance/016730330/feed 0 http://www.news-insurances.com/bulgaria-ups-health-tax-to-fund-hospitals/016725990 http://www.news-insurances.com/bulgaria-ups-health-tax-to-fund-hospitals/016725990#comments Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:58:08 +0000 Damian Dozol http://www.news-insurances.com/?p=25990 Bulgaria’s government voted Wednesday to raise health insurance payments in a move to end doctors’ protests and pump more money into its underfunded hospitals. The right-wing government voted to increase monthly health payments for all citizens by 2.0 percentage points to 10 percent of their income, Finance Minister Simeon Djankov said.”This is a difficult and [...]]]> http://www.news-insurances.com/bulgaria-ups-health-tax-to-fund-hospitals/016725990/feed 0 http://www.news-insurances.com/norways-storebrand-returns-to-profit/016720316 http://www.news-insurances.com/norways-storebrand-returns-to-profit/016720316#comments Wed, 17 Feb 2010 15:21:57 +0000 Barbara karouski http://www.news-insurances.com/?p=20316 Norwegian insurance group Storebrand said Wednesday it would not pay dividends to its shareholders despite returning to profit last year following massive losses in 2008. The company made a net profit of 928 million kroner (116 million euros, 159 million dollars) in 2009 following a loss of 2.23 billion kroner in 2008. “In a year [...]]]> http://www.news-insurances.com/norways-storebrand-returns-to-profit/016720316/feed 0 http://www.news-insurances.com/bomb-damages-greek-insurance-firm/016712105 http://www.news-insurances.com/bomb-damages-greek-insurance-firm/016712105#comments Mon, 28 Dec 2009 10:06:40 +0000 George Stobbart http://www.news-insurances.com/?p=12105 Greek authorities said Monday there were signs that the militant Revolutionary Struggle group was behind an overnight bombing of the headquarters of the country’s leading insurance company. The powerful blast struck the city centre offices of the Greek National Bank-owned Ethniki Asfalistiki late Sunday, causing no casualties but significant fire damage to the building’s ground [...]]]> http://www.news-insurances.com/bomb-damages-greek-insurance-firm/016712105/feed 0 http://www.news-insurances.com/european-commission-clears-lithuanian-export-credit-insurance-scheme/016711820 http://www.news-insurances.com/european-commission-clears-lithuanian-export-credit-insurance-scheme/016711820#comments Tue, 22 Dec 2009 09:40:15 +0000 George Stobbart http://www.news-insurances.com/?p=11820 The European Commission Monday cleared a Lithuanian scheme to provide short-term export credit insurance to companies struggling to get coverage in the private insurance market. “The Lithuanian scheme provides export firms with the insurance cover they need and, at the same time, the top-up mechanism and the level of premium ensure that private market players [...]]]> http://www.news-insurances.com/european-commission-clears-lithuanian-export-credit-insurance-scheme/016711820/feed 0 http://www.news-insurances.com/french-elvis-johnny-hallyday-will-miss-first-dates-of-farewell-tour-reports-insurer/016711375 http://www.news-insurances.com/french-elvis-johnny-hallyday-will-miss-first-dates-of-farewell-tour-reports-insurer/016711375#comments Wed, 16 Dec 2009 09:23:34 +0000 George Stobbart http://www.news-insurances.com/?p=11375 French rocker Johnny Hallyday, recovering from surgery in Los Angeles, will not be fit for his scheduled farewell tour next month, the singer’s insurer was quoted as saying on Tuesday. “It is now certain that the first concerts in 2010 will not take place,” Francois Chiesa, a director with Pont Neuf insurance brokers, told the [...]]]> http://www.news-insurances.com/french-elvis-johnny-hallyday-will-miss-first-dates-of-farewell-tour-reports-insurer/016711375/feed 0 http://www.news-insurances.com/austrian-inflation-rose-pushed-by-increased-housing-and-insurance-prices/01678847 http://www.news-insurances.com/austrian-inflation-rose-pushed-by-increased-housing-and-insurance-prices/01678847#comments Mon, 16 Nov 2009 06:37:17 +0000 George Stobbart http://www.news-insurances.com/?p=8847 Austrian inflation rose in October to 0.3 percent on a 12-month basis from 0.1 percent in September, pushed by increased housing and insurance prices, official data showed on Thursday. On a month-on-month basis, the Austrian consumer price index (CPI) also rose in October, by 0.1 percent from September, the national statistics office Statistik Austria said [...]]]> http://www.news-insurances.com/austrian-inflation-rose-pushed-by-increased-housing-and-insurance-prices/01678847/feed 0 http://www.news-insurances.com/the-role-of-insurance-in-pricing-climate-related-risks/01673845 http://www.news-insurances.com/the-role-of-insurance-in-pricing-climate-related-risks/01673845#comments Sat, 14 Nov 2009 10:45:31 +0000 George Stobbart http://www.news-insurances.com/?p=3845 Given the exceptional complexity of the climate risk challenge, the core insurance mechanisms of underwriting, claims management and asset management can play a central role in dealing with climate change, according to a new report published today by Zurich Financial Services Group (Zurich). Zurich’s brief white paper “The Climate Risk Challenge – The role of [...]]]> http://www.news-insurances.com/the-role-of-insurance-in-pricing-climate-related-risks/01673845/feed 0 http://www.news-insurances.com/danish-leading-insurer-trygvesta-reports-strong-growth/01677988 http://www.news-insurances.com/danish-leading-insurer-trygvesta-reports-strong-growth/01677988#comments Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:59:28 +0000 George Stobbart http://www.news-insurances.com/?p=7988 TrygVesta saw sustained growth in the third quarter of the year and maintains its target of full-year growth of 8%. The Group upgrades its full-year post-tax profit forecast from DKK 1.7bn to DKK 1.8bn. Sweden reported a three-month profit for the first time. The TrygVesta insurance group reported continued strong growth for the third quarter [...]]]> http://www.news-insurances.com/danish-leading-insurer-trygvesta-reports-strong-growth/01677988/feed 0 http://www.news-insurances.com/solvency-ii-the-principal-challenge-for-europes-insurers/01676773 http://www.news-insurances.com/solvency-ii-the-principal-challenge-for-europes-insurers/01676773#comments Thu, 29 Oct 2009 22:37:45 +0000 George Stobbart http://www.news-insurances.com/?p=6773 On an economic basis, many insurers experienced a drastic slump in their equity capital in 2008. The first signs of a recovery were only visible this year. Insurance companies are now having to gear up for the new regulatory framework under Solvency II, which is scheduled to be introduced in Europe as from 2012. Ludger [...]]]> http://www.news-insurances.com/solvency-ii-the-principal-challenge-for-europes-insurers/01676773/feed 0