News analysis archive
Analysis: Iran sanctions toughened by EU
July 30, 2010
WHILE recent months have seen a general trend of tightening sanctions against Iran, the latest restrictions unveiled by the European Union last week went far beyond the expectations of many...
Insurers digest Dodd-Frank reforms
July 23, 2010
While US banks and derivative traders must put a brave face on the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform & Consumer Protection Act, insurers enter the new regulatory landscape with a sense of relief that they...
Neal Bill draws debate on figures
July 19, 2010
Legislative initiatives are always an issue for US insurers and their reinsurers but this year seems to be busier than normal. To an extent, the financial crisis has provided a new spur for those...
The sorry Spitzer saga
July 12, 2010
EARLIER this month New York Supreme Court Judge James Yates vacated the convictions of William Gilman and Edward McNenney, two former executives at broker Marsh who had previously been found guilty,...
D&O insurers eye heightened regulatory scrutiny
July 12, 2010
INCREASED levels of regulatory scrutiny are being felt in the insurance sector through claims on directors’ and officers’ policies. Indeed one of the main sources of claims on non-North American ...
Analysis: Insurers hope for good news in budget
June 22, 2010
TODAY’S Emergency Budget is not expected to bring joy to many with Chancellor George Osborne promising “tough action” with widespread spending cuts and a rise in VAT expected. The insurance ...
Industry tries to fend off crisis reaction
April 16, 2010
The financial crisis highlighted just how inter-dependent so many areas of the modern global economic system have become and a prime aim of politicians and regulators is to reduce the chance of a...
IFRS represents another insurance accounting revolution
March 16, 2010
With so much focus on the forthcoming Solvency II capital adequacy regime it would be understandable if European insurance and reinsurance companies had taken their eyes off another fundamental ...
Joint Forum focuses on financial guarantors
February 02, 2010
With the dust from the financial crisis settling a little, regulatory bodies, financial gurus, central banks and governments have been raking over the ashes to see what went wrong and what steps are...
General Re settlement heralds end to finite probe
January 25, 2010
It was six years ago that Eliot Spitzer, then attorney general for New York, started a probe into what he claimed was the misuse of finite reinsurance-style products to massage insurance company ...
US gears up for reinsurance changes
December 17, 2009
Exactly how the US sates its vast demand for adequate insurance and reinsurance capacity is a complex matter that has always had a political undertone in the form of how much value the country...
Insurance Day Global Markets Interview: Insurance linked securities and the financial crisis
December 04, 2009
Jean-Louis Monnier describes the upheaval in the financial markets last year as a landmark event in the development of the insurance-linked securities (ILS) ...
Insurers comfortable with restructuring of state-aid banks
November 24, 2009
It would seem that earlier fears that the European Commission (EC’s) plan for the restructuring of banks in receipt of state aid would redefine not only the banking sector, but also the ...
MPs probe Europe’s plans for regulatory reform
October 26, 2009
A House of Commons committee has launched an “urgent” inquiry into the European Commission’s proposals to reform the architecture of supervision at European level, which could be given final ...
ABI prepares for Conservative government
October 26, 2009
The head of the Association of British Insurers (ABI) has all but waved goodbye to the Financial Services Authority. In a speech to the market recently, director general of the ABI Stephen Haddrill...
Firms called to account for executive appointments
October 26, 2009
The regulator is calling on financial services firms to be “more robust” in the appointment of key executives and staff. In a letter to the chief executives of 5,000 regulated firms, the ...
Briefly noted
October 26, 2009
The European Parliament has called on the European Commission to take action on the commitments given at the G20 Summit. The Parliament, on adopting a resolution on the Pittsburgh meeting, said that...
MPPI firms agree to refund premium increases
October 26, 2009
Insurers have agreed to refund policyholders of mortgage payment protection insurance (MPPI) £60m in a deal brokered by the Financial Services Authority in response to concerns about premium hikes in ...
100 UK insurers prepare for internal models
October 26, 2009
Almost 100 UK insurers are planning to use their own internal model to calculate capital requirements under the Solvency II directive. The Financial Services Authority wrote to 460 insurers to assess...
Insurance buyers add to Solvency II concerns
October 26, 2009
Risk managers gathered for the annual conference held by FERMA to air their concerns about the potential impact of Solvency II on the commercial insurance market. The association said it is “very ...
CFO Forum wades into liquidity premium row
October 26, 2009
The European Insurance CFO Forum has made several changes to its Market Consistent Embedded Value (MCEV) Principles© in line with its views on Solvency II. In particular, the new MCEV reflects the ...
Block exemption undergoes makeover
October 26, 2009
The European Commission has confirmed that it intends to limit the scope of the existing block exemption that has protected insurers from breaching certain European competition rules in the course of...
Aviva creates new Solvency II structure for EU business
October 26, 2009
The UK’s largest insurance company Aviva is to establish a single holding company for its European businesses, excluding the UK, in Ireland. In line with widely-held expectations that the ...
More or less Europe?
October 26, 2009
We have been through a major financial crisis. There were many different causes of that crisis and many aspects of the reform programme needed in response. But among the most important and most...
Captives face Solvency II conundrum
October 26, 2009
The captive insurance industry’s scrutiny of the potential effects of the Solvency II Directive on it has intensified in the last year. A relatively short timescale to full implementation of the...