News

19th May 2012 03.10 am

Afghanistan: Farah governor's office attacked, 11 killed

FARAH CITY, AFGHANISTAN (BNO NEWS) -- A group of militants on Thursday attacked a governor's office in western Afghanistan, killing at least eleven people, officials said.

The attack was carried out at around 10:30 a.m. local time when the group of militants attacked t..... full article»

19th May 2012 03.10 am

Indonesia's Mount Marapi has small eruption

BUKITINGGI, INDONESIA (BNO NEWS) -- Indonesia's Mount Marapi volcano, located in the province of West Sumatra, on Friday morning erupted.

The 2,891-meter (9,485 feet) tall volcano, located near the cities and town of Bukittinggi, Padang Panjang and Batusangkar in West ..... full article»

18th May 2012 22.00 pm

Global (re)insurance stocks hit hard by Greek Euro fears

Global (re)insurance stocks closed down heavily this week as political turmoil weighed heavily on equities with euro exposures. Unsurprisingly the pain was particularly dealt out to European stocks, especially composite insurers with life insurance operations and exposure to Euro..... full article»

18th May 2012 19.40 pm

Q1 a positive start for US P/C firms: Moody’s

US property/casualty insurers had a positive first quarter of 2012, with net income up 70% on last year’s first quarter.

18th May 2012 19.40 pm

Best affirms A- Rating for Flagstone but negative outlook sticks

Rating agency AM Best has rewarded the self-help work by management at Flagstone Re by affirming the reinsurer's credit rating, citing significant progress in de-risking the balance sheet and improving enterprise risk management. However, though Flagstone had its financial ..... full article»

18th May 2012 16.00 pm

Kiln narrows 2011 profit forecasts

Kiln has reduced the profit forecasts for most of its four non-aligned syndicates for the 2010 and 2011 years of account. It expects to make a profit from its flagship Syndicate 510 for the 2011 year of account. The mid-point profit forecast has fallen slightly from 4.8 percent t..... full article»

18th May 2012 15.20 pm

Lloyd’s guns for emerging markets growth

Analysis: The London market unveiled its Lloyd’s Vision 2025 last Friday, signalling it is looking to emerging markets in Latin America and Asia to fuel international growth over the next decade and beyond, while seeking to safeguard its London core from regulatory threats.full article»

18th May 2012 15.00 pm

3i marks down ACR valuation by 19 7% as Berkshire quota share confirmed

UK private equity group 3i has marked down the valuation of its equity stake in Singapore-headquartered Asia Capital Re Holdings (ACR) by 19.7 percent following an "unprecedented year" for natural catastrophes in the Asia-Pacific region. In its annual results, released ..... full article»

18th May 2012 13.40 pm

US extends Flood Insurance Program

Congress has voted to temporarily extend the US National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

18th May 2012 10.00 am

Japanese big three add $800mn to Thai loss estimates

Japan's big three insurers have bolstered their reserves for last year's Thai floods by $800mn to take their combined net loss to $6.39bn, but none mentioned the size of their gross losses in their disclosure documents. MS&AD, Tokio Marine and NKSJ made the announceme..... full article»

18th May 2012 09.20 am

DLA Piper recruits two more from Dewey

The global law firm has boosted its numbers in Hong Kong with the recruitment of two further partners from Dewey & LeBoeuf.

18th May 2012 09.10 am

RenRe retro sidecar expected to renew

RenaissanceRe's temporary retro sidecar Upsilon Re is likely to continue writing business into 2013, the property cat specialist said. Chief underwriting officer Kevin O'Donnell commented on the vehicle, which was launched for 1 January to take advantage of the temporary ..... full article»

18th May 2012 08.50 am

Japan's big three expected to reveal further Thai losses

Thai flood losses on the overseas per risk treaties of the Japanese big three (re)insurers have deteriorated still further, The Insurance Insider can reveal. Official notifications to underwriters are still pending, but according to broking and underwriting sources further examin..... full article»

18th May 2012 08.50 am

Upsilon likely to continue into 2013 – RenRe

RenaissanceRe's temporary retro sidecar Upsilon Re is likely to continue writing business into 2013, the property cat specialist said. Chief underwriting officer Kevin O'Donnell commented on the vehicle, which was launched for 1 January to take advantage of the temporary ..... full article»

18th May 2012 08.40 am

DLA Piper hires Dewey's Hong Kong team

DLA Piper's Hong Kong office has hired two insurance, corporate and regulatory partners from beleaguered law firm Dewey & LeBoeuf, along with around three associates. Joyce Chan, principal of Dewey's Hong Kong associated firm Joyce Sze Ho Chan & Co, will lead the ..... full article»

18th May 2012 04.50 am

'Queen of Disco' Donna Summer dies of cancer

NAPLES, FLORIDA (BNO NEWS) -- Donna Summer, who won five Grammy Awards and whose hits defined the disco era in the 1970s, died in southern Florida on Thursday morning, her family said. She was 63.

Known as 'the Queen of Disco', Summer received worldwide success during ..... full article»

18th May 2012 04.30 am

Pakistan Air Force planes collide in mid-air, killing 5

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (BNO NEWS) -- Two training aircraft of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) collided in mid-air over northwestern Pakistan on Thursday, killing everyone on board and a civilian on the ground, police said. Several others were injured.

The accident happened w..... full article»

18th May 2012 03.00 am

Japanese judge resigns from Cambodia's Khmer Rouge genocide tribunal

SRINAGAR, INDIA (BNO NEWS) -- A Japanese judge serving as part of the United Nations (UN)-backed Cambodia genocide tribunal resigned his position on Wednesday, and it will take effect in mid-July, the UN reported on Thursday.

Japanese judge Motoo Noguchi, an internatio..... full article»

18th May 2012 02.50 am

Small plane crash in southern Croatia kills 2

ROGOTIN, CROATIA (BNO NEWS) -- Two people were killed on Wednesday morning when a small plane crashed in the southern region of Croatia, police said on Thursday. The cause of the accident was not immediately known.

The accident occurred just before 8:45 a.m. local time..... full article»

18th May 2012 02.50 am

Kashmir bus accident kills 2, injures 37

SRINAGAR, INDIA (BNO NEWS) -- An overloaded passenger bus overturned in India's northern state of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, killing at least two people and injuring dozens more, local authorities said on Thursday.

The accident occurred when the driver of the bus ..... full article»

17th May 2012 19.00 pm

Long Point III cat bond being readied

New ILS deal for US insurance group Travelers gets Standard & Poor’s rating.

17th May 2012 18.20 pm

Aviva stock falls 5% as placed on watch negative

London-listed insurer Aviva's share price fell 4.7 percent to 267.7p on 17 May, after a tumultuous day in which its proposed strategic review and interim management statement were poorly received by the market. Ratings agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) also put the i..... full article»

17th May 2012 16.40 pm

IAG considering selling UK operations

Options for IAG’s UK business include improving its performance, refining its focus to only motor, or selling part of or all of it.

17th May 2012 16.40 pm

Dog bites cost insurers $479m in 2011

State Farm alone paid more than $109m in dog bite claims.

17th May 2012 16.40 pm

Aviva CEO search to take rest of year

UK insurer to review all its business units, and John MacFarlane to be deputy chairman while search for new CEO goes on.